Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) on Monday night called Donald Trump “a narcissistic fascist” for shifting the focus to himself in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, decried the presumptive GOP presidential nominee for turning attention away from the 49 people killed and 53 injured at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday.
Trump has come under fire for a self-congratulatory tweet he sent out after the terrorist attack, in which he said he “appreciate[s] the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism.”
“It is clear that we have a narcissistic facist who has claimed the Republican nomination. That’s a fact. The question is what are we going to do about it as a nation,” Ellison told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Monday night.
“Why, oh, why can’t his sympathies run to them for just a moment?” Ellison asked, referring to the LGBT and Hispanic communities. “The whole nation should be grieving with them.”
“The fact his mind is not concerned itself with what they need, comforting them, is deep and disturbing,” Ellison said. “And then turn it into a villainous rampage against other Americans who have absolutely nothing to do with this — and I mean Muslims now — it’s just outrageous.”
Ellison noted that the country should focus on limiting the availability of guns and increasing access and resources for mental health treatment. He said Washington lawmakers need more than a moment of silence for the shooting victims and need to translate that into real change and unity.
“We need to make those investments. This is why people on the House floor today were saying, ‘Where’s the bill?,’” Ellison said.
House Democrats staged protests Monday evening in response to a moment of silence on the floor to remember the victims of the attack. The chamber erupted into shouting after the silence as Democrats expressed frustration over the lack of votes to restrict guns after repeated mass shootings.
“Republicans wanted a moment of silence for the victims. I respect that, but we can’t continue that moment of silence when we should be legislating,” Ellison said. “We need action. We need to turn to each other not on each other as our narcissist candidate suggests.”
One day after the shooting, both Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton delivered dueling speeches that addressed the carnage in Orlando and drew contrasts between their national security approaches.
Trump’s speech was fueled with attacks on both Clinton and President Obama, saying the two were putting “political correctness” above national security in making their push.
Trump also blamed current U.S. immigration policies for allowing the gunman’s parents to enter the country from Afghanistan and called for a temporary ban on immigration from areas with “a proven history of terrorism.”
Clinton’s speech took thinly veiled shots at Trump’s “inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric.” She condemned his proposed ban of Muslims entering the country.
She also pledged to go after “lone wolves,” people who become radicalized on their own, and called for stricter gun control measures on assault weapons.