The Republican National Committee had hoped their presumptive presidential nominee would offer condolences then remain silent after the early Sunday shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left at least 49 dead — but that was not to be the case,
NBC News reports.
Citing a "source who works closely with the Trump campaign," NBC News originally said the RNC had asked Trump to keep quiet after the grisly attack. The story was later updated to say RNC officials had only hoped for a muted response.
Trump instead took to Twitter, blasting what he saw as the Obama administration's and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's weak response to terrorism.
Trump went on to drop a planned speech attacking Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, on Monday, instead
delivering an address on radical Islamic terrorism.
He came
under criticism Monday morning when he was interviewed by the "Today" show and "Fox & Friends," where he made comments some interpreted as implying Obama may not want to fight Islamic terrorism for some nefarious purpose — perhaps because he is secretly a Muslim himself.
"Well, there are a lot of people that think maybe he doesn't want to get it," Trump told "Today." "A lot of people think maybe he doesn't want to know about it. I happen to think that he just doesn't know what he's doing. But there are many people that think maybe he doesn't want to get it. He doesn't want to see what's really happening."
On "Fox & Friends" he said, "He doesn't get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands. It's one or the other, and neither one is acceptable."