Dayton mayor meets with Trump after earlier criticism
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley met with President Trump Wednesday and kept her promise to give him a piece of her mind.
The president visited Ohio days after the deadly shooting in Dayton's downtown that left nine dead and dozens of others injured.
Leading up to his visit, Whaley said she planned to tell him "how unhelpful he's been" on the issue of gun reform.
Whaley greeted the president and first lady Melania Trump when they landed at the airport and visited a hospital with them and other officials where some of the injured were being treated.
After the hospital visit, Whaley spoke to reporters alongside Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
"I pointed out to the president that now-governor, former senator, Mike DeWine voted for the assault weapons ban," Whaley said, seeming to suggest that "if there was a time that this was bipartisan," that time could be now.
"We're looking for those people in Congress to come together because the majority of Americans agree, so this should be in action," she said.
"Do I think that we’re going to see another mass shooting tomorrow or Friday? Probably, because Washington will not move," she said.
As for the response of the people on the ground to Trump's visit, Whaley seemed to carefully avoid mentioning Trump by name, saying, "I think the victims and the first responders were grateful that the President of the United States came today."
She agreed with Brown when he said that Trump "was comforting and he did the right things and Melania did the right things."
"He was very nice," Whaley said.
She also said she supported his team's decision to skip a visit to the site of the shooting.
"I think it was a good decision for him not to stop in the Oregon District," she said.
"A lot of the time his talk can be very divisive and that’s the last thing we need in Dayton," Whaley said.
