Donald Trump has sent his “warmest sympathy and best wishes” to New Zealand after shootings at two mosques left 49 people dead—an attack the White House described attack as an “act of hate.” The suspect is an Australian-born man in his late twenties who the Australian prime minister described as an “extremist, right-wing terrorist.” But Trump didn’t describe the shootings as a terror attack, tweeting: “My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!” A White House statement condemned the attack and described is as a “vicious act of hate.” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said earlier: “This can only be described as a terrorist attack.” Shortly after his New Zealand tweet, Trump encouraged Jewish people to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republicans.
