Trump rejects politicizing attacks -- unless it's Islamist terrorism

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Washington (CNN)When 58 people were killed last month by a white gunman in Las Vegas with no apparent ties to Islamist terrorism, the White House rejected a policy debate on gun control as inappropriate in the days following the tragedy.

But when eight people were mowed down in a terrorist attack by a man shouting "Allahu akbar," President Donald Trump pounced almost immediately, seizing on the tragedy to push his proposals for tightening immigration controls.

There was more than a double standard at work: it was just the latest example of Trump's knee-jerk instinct to politicize terrorist attacks to advance his policy agenda and rally his political base, which has cheered Trump's hardline posture on terrorism and his efforts to curtail Muslim immigration. Just 30 days apart, Trump's response to the two attacks underscored the pattern of his wildly different attitudes about how the US should respond to attacks carried out by those inspired by radical Islamist ideology and those with no such motivations.

In his first public remarks the day after the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, Trump offered thoughts and prayers to the Las Vegas victims and remarked on the heroism of first responders, but offered no hint of policy action.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/politics/trump-nyc-attack-las-vegas-reaction/index.html