What's wrong with this man?

Donald J. and Melania Trump posing for a picture with a newly orphaned baby whose parents were killed in the shooting massacre in El Paso.   Baby Paul's grandfather said that Paul was brought to a hospital Trump was visiting at the request of two White House aides who came to their home.   [photographer not identified in the HuffPost reproduction].



Trump's grossly inappropriate grin and thumbs up gesture has been called obscene -- given the circumstances.  The photo has gone viral, after first being posted on the first lady's twitter account, adding to the tone-deafness of Trump's whole failure as Consoler-in-Chief.

CNN reporter Mary Papenfuss wrote that "The president's oddly jocular pose is a bizarre contrast to the tragedy of the baby's life."  And I would add, it seems even worse, given that the two month old is obviously too young to know how he is being exploited to give our narcissistic president what someone thought was a good photo op.

Tweeter Dan Moynihan summed it up:  "This child just lost both parents to a white supremacist who drove 10 hours to a WalMart to kill Hispanics because, like Trump, he was concerned about an immigrant invasion.    Why exactly are the President and First Lady smiling?   Why the hell is he doing the thumbs up sign?"

Former press secretary to Bill Clinton, Joe Lockhard, said it wasn't just the photo but the "unprecedented" way Trump "bashed critics and boasted of his own reception instead of placing the focus on victims and suffering communities."

Here's the thing:   The photo is merely visual proof of the inability of Trump to be what a president needs to be in a time like this.   During the whole trip to Dayton and then to El Paso, he kept up a running twitter war with critics, bashing his opponents and boasting of his own crowd size on his prior trip to El Paso.

Even White House staff members are acknowledging that the trip "did not go well."

Because Trump does not have any sense of empathy and can only think of himself, he turns the visit into a photo op for himself.   Dollars to donuts, this photo will appear in a campaign ad before we're done with Trump.

Now, on the other hand, and to be fair, Baby Paul's uncle, Tito Anchondo, who brought him to meet Trump, says that the baby's father was a Trump supporter and that he, himself, is Republican and wanted Trump to know that their family stands with the president.

Earlier, he had told NPR that he wanted to see Trump's reaction in person, "to see if he's genuine and see if he feels maybe some kind of remorse for statements that he's made."  He later told the Wasnington Post that Trump was "just there as a human being, consoling us and giving his condolences . . . [not] pushing any kind of political agenda."

Pardon my cynicism, but that sounds like a coached statement.  And apparently Trump did not acknowledge any responsibility for inciting the violence that left Baby Paul an orphan.  He was too busy grinning and acknowledging his "win" in getting such a good photo for the campaign ads.

Another family member, an aunt of the baby's father, Elizabeth Terry, declined to meet with the president,   She did speak with The Guardian newspaper, explaining that "There are families and real lives that were destroyed and shattered. . . . We need to focus on the healing . . .  and not get thrust into any type of politics.  It's a time to mourn and grieve right now."