Overview
- Speaking with reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, Trump said he had not thought about attending Sarah Beckstrom’s funeral, then highlighted his large election margin in her home state of West Virginia.
- Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard member, was shot in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and died the following day.
- Trump’s comment prompted swift condemnation online, with critics saying the response lacked empathy and calling the moment gross.
- Notable voices including The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols faulted the exchange for making the focus about the president rather than the victim.
- Raw Story reported a developing identification of a suspected shooter as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, described as an Afghan migrant with prior CIA work, a claim presented as limited-sourced and not fully corroborated.