Donald Trump's campaign stop in Flint, Michigan, on Thursday has been slammed as a last-minute distraction by the city's mayor. "Flint is focused on fixing the problems caused by lead contamination of our drinking water, not photo ops," Democratic Mayor Karen Weaver said.
Weaver further criticized Trump and his campaign for not recognizing the city's crisis earlier; by contrast, Hillary Clinton "came to Flint when the water crisis hit," Weaver told TV viewers in July. Trump was not especially outspoken during the height of the Flint crisis, simply calling it a "shame" in January. "A thing like that shouldn't happen," he said at the time, "but again, I don't want to comment on that."
Rob Bieber, the president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, framed Thursday's campaign stop in harsher words: "Less than 60 days before the election and now Donald Trump rolls into town for a photo op. Give me a break. Where the hell have you been?"