El Paso shooting victims declined to meet with Donald Trump

"This is a very sensitive time in their lives. Some of them said they didn't want to meet with the president, some of them didn't want any visitors," a hospital spokesperson told the Washington Post.

AUGUST 9, 2019 14:51

Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the U.S after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso U.S. in Ciudad Juarez (photo credit: REUTERS/CARLOS SANCHEZ) — Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the U.S after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso U.S. in Ciudad Juarez

(photo credit: REUTERS/CARLOS SANCHEZ)

No one among the El Paso shooting victims still treated at the University Medical Center was willing to meet with US President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

"This is a very sensitive time in their lives. Some of them said they didn't want to meet with the president, some of them didn't want any visitors," UMC spokesperson Ryan Mielke told the DC-based newspaper.

The spokesperson added that two people who had already been discharged from the hospital came back to meet with Trump together with their families on Wednesday.

CNN reported that one of the patients brought back was a two-month-old baby who lost both his parents in the attack. The report quoted an unnamed hospital official saying that people noticed "an absence of empathy" on the president's part.

According to the American network, the situation was not very different at the other hospital were victims of the shooting have been treated: an unnamed individual "who had been briefed on the matter," told CNN that "almost all" of the patients at the Del Sol Medical Center declined to meet with Trump.

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The president ultimately decided not to visit the Del Sol Medical Center.

Trump visited hospitals where victims were treated in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio, after massacres 13 hours apart that shocked the country and reopened a national debate on gun safety.

In both cities, crowds of protesters gathered to confront Trump and condemn his visit. Some held signs reading "Trump is racist," "Love over hate" and "Send him back!"

The president and first lady Melania Trump avoided the press on both hospital visits and stayed out of public view.

"It was a warm and wonderful visit," Trump said on Twitter after leaving Dayton. "Tremendous enthusiasm & even Love."

Trump also visited law enforcement personnel at an emergency operations center in El Paso to thank them for their response on Saturday, when a man killed 22 people at a Walmart store, apparently after posting an anti-immigrant manifesto online.

In Dayton, nine people and the suspect were killed in a rampage early on Sunday.

"The job you have done is incredible," Trump told gathered officers and staff. "I wanted to come and thank you."