President Trump first commented on Twitter Saturday morning, saying, “People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities. Beware of active shooter. God Bless All!” An hour and a half later, he added, “Events in Pittsburgh are far more devastating than originally thought.”

David Frum: America’s fatal shame

A few hours later, as he traveled to the Midwest Saturday afternoon, he said he was thinking about canceling his planned campaign rally in Murphysboro, Illinois, in the wake of the shootings. But he decided to go ahead, he told a boisterous crowd upon his arrival. He didn’t want to give in and change his schedule because of someone who is “sick and evil.”

“We must stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters to defeat anti-Semitism and vanquish the forces of hate,” he said. “That’s what it is. Through the centuries, the Jews have endured terrible persecution. You know that. We have all read it. We have studied it.”

For the alleged gunman and others who attack worshipers, Trump said, “we have to bring back the death penalty. They have to pay the ultimate price. They have to pay the ultimate price. They can’t do this. They can’t do this to our country. We must draw a line in the sand and say very strongly, ‘Never again.’”

His audience roared its approval. “Tonight everyone in this arena and every citizen across the land sends our prayers to the victims and their families,” Trump said. “We all do. We also send our gratitude to the law-enforcement officers who were incredible and risked their lives and sustained very, very serious injuries during this horrible attack. We salute the heroes of American law enforcement. We always do.”

National traumas often bring out the finest and most indelible moments for individual commanders in chief: Ronald Reagan’s speech after the Challenger explosion; George W. Bush’s famous “I can hear you!” ad lib at Ground Zero; Barack Obama’s comments after the shootings at Sandy Hook and the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, which earned him the “consoler in chief” sobriquet.

Trump, however, has struggled in such moments. Though he typically thrives on attention, he seems uncomfortable when he can’t control the news, as in this case. Beyond that, he is not adept at expressing empathy and consolation. After Hurricane Harvey hit, he seemed more interested in the size of the storm than the travails of its victims. His response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was even more widely panned. During a short visit, Trump indulged in self-congratulation and was then photographed tossing desperately needed supplies to the displaced as though shooting a basketball.

But there’s no need to look that far back to see Trump striking an off-key note during a crisis. The spate of bombs sent to critics of the president this week demonstrates the problem well. Faced with assassination attempts aimed at a former president and others, Trump on Wednesday initially called for unity, but by a rally Wednesday night was back to aggressively bashing opponents. On Thursday, he blamed the press for the attacks. On Friday, he suggested that the bombs were a “false flag” designed to hurt his Republican Party in the impending midterm elections.