Does Trump Avoid Responding To Violence Against Muslims?

A Minnesota mosque was the target of a homemade bomb Saturday, and the state’s governor, Mark Dayton, called the attack a “criminal act of terrorism.” Despite that, President Donald Trump, who tweets often about terrorism, remained silent about the explosion at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. No one was injured in the attack.

Muslim leaders are waiting for the president to speak up.

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“The president’s silence is selective,” Robert McCaw, Government Affairs Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told International Business Times in a phone interview Monday. “The president campaigned on a tidal wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric … now that he’s president he’s unable to speak out against it … he can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

Trump has been tweeting vociferously over the past few days but has not made mention of the bombing. The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush reported on Twitter Monday that he received a statement from the White House reading “the President has been and is continuing to be updated and we are monitoring situation for now.”

“Silence on the part of public officials at the national level only serves to empower Islamophobes,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

There have been several incidents involving violence against people of Muslin, Middle Eastern or East Asian heritage on which the president has remained silent.

In late May, it took days for the president to respond to an attack in Portland, Oregon. Two men were killed as they defended two Muslim women who were being verbally assaulted with anti-Muslim slurs on a train.

Another attack that took several days for the president to respond to, was a February shooting in Kansas. Two Indian men were attacked by a white man who mistook the victims for Iranians. The attacker yelled “get out of my country,” and “terrorist” before shooting at the Indian men, killing one.

In those two instances, the president responded outside of his Twitter account, whereas attacks perpetrated by a Muslim person often elicit a tweet from the president’s personal account within hours.

Even before Trump was president, he was often quick to react to world events.

“Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? Great hate and sickness!” tweeted Trump last year when an EgyptAir plane went missing, speculating about the cause of the disappearance.

In 2015, it took around 90 minutes for Trump to react to the shooting attacks in San Bernardino, California.

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“California shooting looks very bad. Good luck to law enforcement and God bless. This is when our police are so appreciated!”

The White House has not responded to request for comment.