Obama ran out of words on mass shootings. Trump has struggled to find them.
As he heads to Florida this weekend   President Trump  is following in the footsteps of former president Barack Obama  a man  he  disparages and a leader whose time in office in many ways came to be defined by mass shootings.
All the while  Obama traveled a path from empathy and promises of action to anger and  ultimately  defeat. âI am not naive â Obama said in Dallas. âI have seen how inadequate my own words have been. â
Trump   beginning the second year of  his  presidency with  his  third major mass shooting  has a different problem.  His  challenges when it comes to connecting with a grieving public are often both personal and political.
While Obama simply ran out of things to say about the nationâs unending string of gun tragedies   Trump  â who often strains to express empathy â has struggled to find much to say about them at all.
In a statement from the White House on Thursday morning about the deadly school shooting in Parkland  Fla.   Trump  promised to work with state and local leaders to âtackle the difficult issue of mental health.â
But  his  remarks  which lasted about six minutes  were so generic that they could have applied to any catastrophe.
âTo every parent  teacher and child who is hurting so badly  we are here for you  whatever you need  whatever we can do to ease your pain â  he  said  reading from a script in a practiced monotone in the Diplomatic Room of the White House. âWe are all joined together as one American family  and your suffering is our burden also.â
[In response to shooting   Trump  calls suspect âmentally disturbed â does not mention gun control]
The comments mirrored what  he  said in September after the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana.
âWhen one American suffers â and I say this quite a bit  especially lately  when you see whatâs going on â we all suffer â  Trump  said in the stormâs aftermath. âWeâre one American family brought together in times of tragedy by the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty that we have for one another.
And they struck a discordant tone with  his  presidency so far.  His  call to âanswer hate with loveâ and âcruelty with kindnessâ came from a president who responds to criticism by punching back â10 times harder â as  his  wife once said  and who takes pride in demeaning rivals with insulting nicknames.
 President Trump  speaks at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the wake of the October mass shooting that killed more than 50 people. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Trumpâs most genuine emotion â the one that attracted legions of followers to his presidential campaign â is his anger  aides say.
âWe got elected on âDrain the Swamp â âLock Her Up â âBuild a Wall â â Stephen K. Bannon   Trumpâs  former chief strategist  said in a recent interview. âAnger and fear is what gets people to the polls.â
But anger has seemed off-limits for  Trump  when it comes to the root causes of mass shootings and the unwillingness to act in Washington. Polls suggest widespread support for gun-control legislation  but  Trump  has remained loyal to supporters who believed that Obama was trying to take away their guns. Instead  he has repeatedly pointed to mental illness as the cause of mass killings  including the one in Florida  though his administration has moved to cut spending on such care.
On the campaign trail   Trump  had a unique ability to connect with voters  presenting  himself  as someone who understood their problems and was fighting for them. Those connections have been tougher for  him  to forge as president â especially on issues such as gun control where  he  is out of step with most of the country.
As he heads to Florida this weekend    [TGT] is following in the footsteps of former president Barack Obama  a man   [TGT]   disparages and a leader whose time in office in many ways came to be defined by mass shootings.
All the while  Obama traveled a path from empathy and promises of action to anger and  ultimately  defeat. âI am not naive â Obama said in Dallas. âI have seen how inadequate my own words have been. â
 [TGT] beginning the second year of   [TGT]   presidency with   [TGT]   third major mass shooting  has a different problem.   [TGT]   challenges when it comes to connecting with a grieving public are often both personal and political.
While  [TGT]  has struggled to find much to say about  [TGT]  at all.
In a statement from the White House on Thursday morning about the deadly school shooting in Parkland  Fla.   Trump  promised to work with state and local leaders to âtackle the difficult issue of mental health.â
But  his  remarks  which lasted about six minutes  were so generic that they could have applied to any catastrophe.
âTo every parent  teacher and child who is hurting so badly  we are here for you  whatever you need  whatever we can do to ease your pain â  he  said  reading from a script in a practiced monotone in the Diplomatic Room of the White House. âWe are all joined together as one American family  and your suffering is our burden also.â
[In response to shooting    [TGT] calls suspect âmentally disturbed â does not mention gun control]
The comments mirrored what  he  said in September after the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana.
âWhen one American suffers â and I say this quite a bit  especially lately  when you see whatâs going on â we all suffer â   [TGT] said in the stormâs aftermath. âWeâre one American family brought together in times of tragedy by the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty that we have for one another.
And they struck a discordant tone with  his  presidency so far.  His  call to âanswer hate with loveâ and âcruelty with kindnessâ came from a president who responds to criticism by punching back â10 times harder â as  his  wife once said  and who takes pride in demeaning rivals with insulting nicknames.
  [TGT] speaks at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the wake of the October mass shooting that killed more than 50 people. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Trumpâs most genuine emotion â the one that attracted legions of followers to his presidential campaign â is his anger  aides say.
âWe got elected on âDrain the Swamp â âLock Her Up â âBuild a Wall â â Stephen K. Bannon   Trumpâs  former chief strategist  said in a recent interview. âAnger and fear is what gets people to the polls.â
But anger has seemed off-limits for   [TGT] when it comes to the root causes of mass shootings and the unwillingness to act in Washington. Polls suggest widespread support for gun-control legislation  but   [TGT] has remained loyal to supporters who believed that Obama was trying to take away their guns. Instead  he has repeatedly pointed to mental illness as the cause of mass killings  including the one in Florida  though his administration has moved to cut spending on such care.
On the campaign trail    [TGT] had a unique ability to connect with voters  presenting   [TGT]   as someone who understood their problems and was fighting for them. Those connections have been tougher for  him  to forge as president â especially on issues such as gun control where  he  is out of step with most of the country.