Andre Anchondo died in the shooting attack in Walmart last weekend shielding his wife, Jordan, and their infant son Paul. National Public Radio (NPR) sent David Greene to El Paso, Texas, where the taxpayer-funded media outlet reported on Trump’s critics, including a Democrat lawmaker.
But Tito Anchondo, Andre’s brother, didn’t drive the narrative NPR and other media outlets are peddling that Trump caused the massacres in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, for speaking out against illegal immigration and cities like Baltimore where residents are dealing with rodent infestation and violent crime.
“As President Trump headed to El Paso on Wednesday and the grieving communities held vigils to mourn the dead, Andre’s older brother and father were back at work in the family’s auto shop, figuring out how to press on,” NPR reported.
On Wednesday, NPR teased the feature on Tito Anchondo that was published on Thursday.
“And I got to say, Rachel, his presence here in El Paso is controversial,” Greene said to Morning Edition host Rachel Martin. “There are some in the city who just don’t think Trump should come, and that includes Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who represents this area. She was speaking to MSNBC.”
NPR then played a sound byte from Escobar claiming that Trump said Americans should be afraid of Latinos.
But Greene claimed he was reluctant to talk politics with people who had lost loved ones.
They interviewed Tito at his father’s auto body shop where they were both working.
“And Rachel, you understand this,” Greene said. “I went into this conversation thinking I wasn’t going to bring up politics with this family at all.”
“It just felt insensitive,” Greene said. “But then Tito, pretty early on, told me that he’s really happy that President Trump is coming here.
“How come?” Martin asked.
“Well, I mean, he said his late brother supported the president,” said Greene, who then called Trump a racist.
“He said he supports the president, but that he’s really grappled a lot with some of the racist things that President Trump has said,” Greene said. “And he’s hoping to get some face time with the president to challenge him on some of that.”
“Though the president has been met by protesters, some of whom think he helped incite the violence in El Paso with his language about immigrants, Tito sees it differently,” NPR reported.
NPR reported:
On Wednesday, President Trump visited El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, to meet with survivors of the weekend massacres. Though the president has been met by protesters, some of whom think he helped incite the violence in El Paso with his language about immigrants, Tito sees it differently.
“I can see why people would believe that,” Tito says. “And yes, maybe he said things in bad taste. But I think people are misconstruing President Trump’s ideas.”
Tito Anchondo says his family has always been Republican conservatives. “My brother was very supportive of Trump,” he said, adding that he would like to sit down with the president and tell him about their pain.
“I want to see his reaction in person,” Tito said in the NPR report. “I want to see if he’s genuine and see if my political views are right or wrong. And see if he feels maybe some kind of remorse for statements that he’s made.”
“I just want to have a human-to-human talk with him and see how he feels,” Tito said.
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