CLEVELAND – A horrific mass murder on the scale of the Orlando, Fla., nightclub massacre early Sunday would normally cause a time-out in a presidential campaign, as the candidates pause their attacks in deference to the dead and their families.
Donald Trump, though, was prompted by the deadliest mass shooting in American history to immediately launch into some of his harshest and angriest broadsides yet, demanding President Barack Obama resign, Hillary Clinton drop out of the presidential race, and that his call for a ban on Muslims entering the country be enforced.
As a result, the grieving and calls for healing on the campaign trail Monday were overshadowed by pitched political sparring over national security and gun control as Clinton and Trump respond to the latest act of terrorism on U.S. soil in prepared remarks Monday. Early Sunday morning, a gunman killed 49 people and wounded at least 53 in the Orlando nightclub before being killed in a shootout with police.
The rivals spoke about two hours apart on Monday afternoon - Clinton first, in Cleveland, and then Trump in Manchester, N.H., both in battleground states - laying out very different visions on the safety concerns that weigh heavily on voters, and particularly the swing voters who will decide the presidential contest.
Trump rose to the top of a crowded Republican field by pitching himself as an aggressive voice, pushing aside what he sees as a politically correct reaction of Clinton and Obama to the threat of immigration and terrorism, which he argues are closely related. Clinton has built her campaign around her deep well of experience and innate sense of caution and again made the case that Trump is a loose cannon prone to misfiring, creating an existential threat to the country at this dangerous time.
Both campaigns see the attacks as a key moment. For Trump, it underscores a climate of anger and fear that requires abandoning the old rules. For Clinton, it's a time to recognize the stakes of taking a gamble on a volatile personality.
Their reactions to the mass shooting highlight their disparate cases. Trump pounced on the tragedy on his Twitter account and in a statement, saying he predicted the attack while arguing that Clinton would bring in hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East who pose imminent danger. He said "we can't afford to be politically correct anymore," asserting that it should be the litmus test for leading the country.
"In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words 'radical Islam'. For that reason alone, he should step down," Trump said. "If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'radical Islam' she should get out of this race for the presidency."