Donald Trump's first tweet following the news of the attack in Orlando? "Really bad shooting in Orlando. Police investigating possible terrorism. Many people dead and wounded." His second? "Clinton made a false ad about me where I was imitating a reporter GROVELING after he changed his story. I would NEVER mock disabled. Shame!"
In the hours since it was confirmed that 49 people were killed at the hands of a lone gunman in an Orlando nightclub, Trump has been heavily criticized for his response, and particularly for a third tweet congratulating himself for "being right on radical Islamic terrorism" (although he added, "I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance").
However, looking back on Trump's responses to major terrorist attacks in the past year, NBC News reveals that Trump often takes the tragedies as opportunities to pat himself on the back.
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Following the Paris terror attacks last November, for example, Trump tweeted within two hours: "They laughed at me when I said to bomb the ISIS controlled oil fields. Now they are not laughing and doing what I said. #Trump2016" and "Thank you @JakeTapper for giving me credit for my vision on bombing the oil fields. Should have been done long ago. #Trump2016."
Then, over an hour after the news about the December shooting in San Bernardino broke, Trump's first response was, "I beat Hillary in the new @FoxNews Poll head to head. SHE HAS NO STRENGTH OR STAMINA, both of which are needed to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Twenty minutes afterward, he tweeted that the California shooting "looks very bad."
Likewise following the March attack in Brussels, Trump said, "I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody- and it's not even close. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!"
Trump didn't even respond to the Charleston church massacre last June until 15 hours after the attack, and then just 30 minutes after offering his "deepest condolences to all," he urged his nearly nine million followers to "Watch my appearance on @Morning_Joe - great interview!"
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