How They Do It–Congressional leaders from both sides refuse to join Trump as he aims to console Pittsburgh

politico.com

Local Pittsburgh leaders will not accompany President Donald Trump during his Tuesday visit aimed at offering condolences to the families of the victims of the mass shooting at a synagogue over the weekend.

A spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto’s office confirmed that the mayor will be attending funerals as Trump arrives in town. Peduto, a Democrat, previously urged Trump to consider “the will of the families” and to avoid a visit “while we are burying the dead.”

“The mayor’s sole focus today is on the funerals and on supporting the families of the victims,” the spokesman, Timothy McNulty, told POLITICO. At least two funerals are being held Tuesday, according to local outlets.

Trump’s contentious visit on Tuesday afternoon comes as the city is still reeling from a shooting considered one of the worst instances of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history, in which the attacker allegedly yelled anti-Semitic statements as he killed 11 congregants of the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

The four top congressional leaders in both parties — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), as well as Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — were invited to join Trump in Pittsburgh but declined, according to a source familiar with the matter. But that move isn’t necessarily a sign of eagerness to avoid Trump by the GOP leaders — both McConnell and Ryan had previous commitments with the midterms just one week away.

The Department of Justice has filed hate crime charges against Robert Bowers, the alleged shooter.

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said the words elected officials use can fuel the flames of violence, adding that he had no plans to meet Trump during his trip.

“When you speak words of hate, when you speak ill of the other candidate, any words of hate, Americans listen to you. They get their instructions from you,” Myers told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday. “When you speak words of hate, you say to them, ‘This is okay, you can do it as well.'”

“Tone down the hate. Speak words of love, speak words of decency and of respect. When that message comes loud and clear, Americans will hear that and we can begin to change the tenor of our country,” Myers said.

Several local leaders have publicly spurned the president, linking the president’s rhetoric with the violence even as he condemned the attacker and the “scourge of anti-Semitism.” Eleven progressive Jewish leaders penned a letter to Trump urging him to stay away.

“For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement. President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism,” read the letter, which has garnered more than 68,000 signatories as of Tuesday morning.

“Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted. You have also deliberately undermined the safety of people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities. Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country,” the letter went on.