President Donald Trump blamed the media Monday for pre-election "anger" as the nation mourned the loss of 11 lives in the weekend shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the worst anti-Semitic attack in recent US history. Hours before Robert Bowers was to make his first court appearance on charges of perpetrating the massacre, Trump lashed out at critical journalists, blaming them for extremism ahead of midterm congressional elections on November 6.
"There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news," Trump tweeted. "The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame of Anger and Outrage."
Trump has said he plans to go to Pittsburgh, where Bowers, 46, is accused of going on a shooting spree Saturday during prayers at the Tree of Life synagogue. However, with fierce arguments erupting over whether Trump's own daily rhetoric is feeding the increasingly dangerous climate, even the subject of a possible visit has become a bone of contention. Jeffrey Myers, a Tree of Life rabbi who was present when the attack started, told CNN that "the president of the United States is always welcome."