President Donald Trump’s visit to El Paso Wednesday will include meetings with Texas’ top three lawmakers. But many members of the El Paso delegation of the Texas Legislature, all of whom are Democrats, have said they don’t want the president to come to El Paso at all.
Democratic State Rep. César Blanco is one of those lawmakers. He says the El Paso community is grieving, and that first responders are continuing to work on recovery from the shooting.
“This president has consistently been divisive in his rhetoric regarding Latinos, and this is not going to be helpful in terms of uniting our community,” Blanco says.
Blanco says he was not invited to meet with Trump during his visit, and wouldn’t accept an invitation if it were offered. He says he would prefer that Trump perform a unifying role, but that he hasn’t.
“Other presidents, in times of crisis, demonstrate unity and healing,” Blanco says. “He has done the opposite.”
The state’s top leaders will be in El Paso as well, and Blanco says he will be part of those meetings.
“We requested this meeting with out state leaders,” he says. “We are happy that they are coming. We look forward to a very robust conversation about next steps and helping our community respond to this crisis, as well as what we can do to prevent future tragedies.”
Blanco supports gun control measures. He says the state should look at limiting access to “arms that create mass destruction in our communities.”
The El Paso gunman used a semiautomatic weapon.
Written by Shelly Brisbin.
