There are many reasons to be outraged at Donald Trump holding the office of the presidency.
There’s his overt racism, the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, the inexplicable reverence of Vladimir Putin, the authoritarian attacks on the free press, the open investigations of criminal behavior…
Related: Kathy Griffin Slams Violent Propaganda Video In Which Trump Murders Her
We could go on. But besides all of that, there’s also just a disturbing lack of empathy which seems to show itself in every opportunity.
When going to meet with mass shooting victims, he took photos with a thumbs up and a big used car salesman smile. He ridiculed prisoners of war. He mocked a disabled reporter, the way a junior high bully might.
https://giphy.com/gifs/6XbbK4jKGrUuk
Most recently he met with a grieving couple who had just lost their teenage son in a car accident — and pulled a Jerry Springer, surprising them with the woman driving the car which killed their boy.
What the serious eff??
OK, let’s rewind, in case you haven’t followed the case…
19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed on August 27 in Croughton, England when a woman drove her SUV into oncoming traffic — coming over the hill too quick for him to avoid.
That woman was Anne Sacoolas, the American wife of an intelligence officer who was working at the Royal Air Force base. The 42-year-old had only been in the country for three weeks and had not gotten accustomed to driving in the other lane.
That was a tragic accident, but what happened next was a decision made by multiple people.
Knowing police were coming to question her in a wrongful death inquiry, Sacoolas, her husband, and their children left the UK — claiming diplomatic immunity. According to the US Embassy in London, this was on the advice of the US State Department.
And suddenly this fatal car accident turned into an international incident.
Now Harry’s parents, Tim Dunn and Charlotte Charles, are pleading with the American government to send Sacoolas back to the UK to face the proper consequences.
Through her lawyer, Sacoolas made a public apology for Harry’s death and said she would like to meet with his parents. They responded in a press conference they would be willing to meet, but only if she returned to England “to face the justice system” there. Charlotte said:
“We’re not inhumane. We still don’t wish her any ill harm, but we need to hear it from her, in her own words, on our terms, in the UK.”
The Dunns have already told British authorities they wanted any sentence Sacoolas faced to be suspended so she wouldn’t be taken away from her own children.
They just want closure, to not feel as if their son’s killer fled and was shielded by the US government — that she got away with it. They just want to feel justice has been served.
Enter a man whose name is synonymous with justice and all that is right in the — nah, we’re just kidding, it’s Trump.
https://giphy.com/gifs/donald-trump-are-you-talking-to-me-Qs7zIiqo9cPb2vf1j2
Trump did not agree to the request to return Sacoolas to the UK, but he invited the Dunns to the White House on Tuesday night for an “urgent” meeting to discuss it.
It was there they say they were shocked as Trump dropped the “bombshell” he had also brought Sacoolas there, and she was waiting in the next room to meet them.
The Dunns’ spokesperson Radd Seiger told The Daily Beast the parents felt “ambushed” by the move. He explained in a statement on their Justice4Harry GoFundMe page the parents were shocked four times that day, first by the White House invite, second by meeting the President himself. It all went downhill from there, as Seiger revealed:
“Thirdly that Mrs. Sacoolas was present in the building and fourthly that it was the president’s intention for Harry’s family to meet Mrs. Sacoolas in the Oval Office in front of several photographers in what was obviously designed to be a press call.”
Wow.
We know Trump has more experience with reality TV than with politics, but COME ON!
It’s likely he had no intention of actually having a healing moment between these two families but instead invited photographers to make it look like there had been a healing moment.
That way the international incident is avoided, and he looks like a big hero.
The only problem is, he clearly didn’t think for one second about how surprising the bereaved parents with their son’s killer would make them feel.
Speaking on CBS This Morning, the mourning father said the president pushed the meeting with Sacoolas “two or three times”, despite them declining.
“We said no, we didn’t feel it was right. He said ‘she’s here, let’s get it on, get some healing,’ something like that. There was a bit of pressure but we stuck to our guns.”
Tim later said in another interview of the interaction:
“We didn’t want to be railroaded into, not a circus as such, but into a meeting we weren’t prepared for.”
Yep. That lack of empathy again.
I am genuinely confused and horrified by this image. Am I taking this the wrong way?
Why is Trump and Melania posing, GRINNING, and giving a thumbs up with the infant who’s parents were murdered by the shooter in El Paso.
Seriously… WTH is going on? pic.twitter.com/0YA2hIQeP3
— Bryan William Jones (@BWJones) August 9, 2019
During his press conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday (a whole other cray can of worms), Trump admitted to the scheme, saying:
“I offered to bring the person in question in. And they weren’t ready for it.”
They weren’t ready to face the woman who took their child from them. When he sprung it on them out of nowhere.
Only he would be surprised by that.
[Image via CBS/YouTube/WENN.]
