Parkland Shooting Survivor’s Photo Used In Trump Re-Election Campaign Fundraising Email, Per ‘CNN’
Less than 10 days after Nikolas Cruz was accused of murdering 17 people and injuring more than a dozen students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign reportedly used a photo of one of the survivors in an email that links to his campaign’s donation page.
According to CNN, President Trump and his wife Melania visited Stoneman Douglas student Madeleine Wilford, 17, in the hospital on February 16, two days after the mass shooting took place at the school located in Broward County, Florida.
President Trump, alongside his wife, posed for a photo with Wilford during his visit. The picture, below, was posted on both Trump’s official Twitter and Instagram accounts. The photo shows the student recovering in her hospital bed surrounded by her family, the President, and the First Lady. Now it has reportedly made its way into a campaign re-election email.
CNN reports that the email includes a statement about the mass shooting that took place at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, with a focus on what Trump intends to do to make schools safer for children across the country.
Our entire Nation, w/one heavy heart, continues to pray for the victims & their families in Parkland, FL. To teachers, law enforcement, first responders & medical professionals who responded so bravely in the face of danger: We THANK YOU for your courage! https://t.co/3yJsrebZMG pic.twitter.com/ti791dENTy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2018
The email mentions “the senseless school shooting in Parkland, Florida” and goes on to say that the President is “taking steps toward banning gun bump stocks and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers.”
Trump’s re-election campaign also notes in the email that the President intends to make “our schools and our children safer will be our top priority.”
The message is not a new one. Time reports that Trump recently spoke about guns and school safety during a listening session with several Parkland shooting survivors and their families at a White House event.
However, the email isn’t just about the shooting victims and survivors or helping to make schools safer. Instead, CNN reports that the email ends with a link to President Trump’s campaign donation page.
Twitter reacts
It didn’t take long for information about the campaign fundraising email to make its way onto social media. On Sunday night, several Twitter users blasted the Trump campaign for using a photo of one of the Parkland shooting victims to raise money for his re-election.
“RealDonaldTrump, just when I thought you had hit rock bottom in being human..per @CNN the campaign email contains a photo of 17-year-old Madeleine Wilford in a hospital bed surrounded by her family, Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump,” Ephiny Vega tweeted. “You managed to prove me wrong.”
Twitter user@NurseRNKimberly tweeted about the campaign email reported by CNN, stating, “If it were one of my children..id sue him..he only used that hospital visit as a chance to get publicity photos, he still thinks he has a chance to win in 2020. I need Xanax again!
CNN notes that they have yet to receive a return call or email from Madeleine Wilford’s family or the Trump campaign when contacted about the fundraising email.
