Donald Trump’s efforts to provide comfort and support to the victims of two mass shootings has been engulfed by controversy as protesters claimed his rhetoric was responsible for spreading bigotry. There was also unease at the president’s angry tweets posted while flying between Dayton and El Paso on Air Force One.

Five days after a gunman entered a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, and opened fire killing 22 people, only for the violence to be echoed within hours by the killing of nine people in Dayton, Ohio, Mr Trump visited both cities on Wednesday in what for US presidents has long been the role of consoler-in-chief.

In El Paso, with many angry about racist language they believe has emboldened people such as the young white man who allegedly drove 10 hours to deliberately target a store with a large number of Hispanics, critics held a protest to denounce his action. Protesters booed Mr Trump as he and the first lady were driven to meet survivors and first responders at a hospital, outnumbering the president’s supporters who cheered his motorcade.

On a street corner in the city centre, as close to the El Paso Children’s hospital as protesters were allowed, a woman called Margie Ugarte, 41, a paralegal, held up a sign that read “Make racism wrong again”, a riff on Mr Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan.

“The president should stay away,” she said. “It’s not just that he’s anti-immigrant, he’s anti anyone who is not the same.”

El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Show all 39 1 /39 El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store CCTV images of the gunman identified as Patrick Crusius The 21 year old, as he entered the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store, killing 20. KTSM 9/AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement agencies respond The Texas city’s police chief said the assault on a Walmart store on Saturday, which left another 26 people wounded, was being investigated as a potential hate crime. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up Shoppers exit with their hands up after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Salgado NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. STRINGER Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store FBI released a picture of gunman Patrick Crusius The police officially identified the 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 650 miles east of El Paso. FBI/AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman reacts after the mass shooting The attack came just minutes after a far-right manifesto appeared online. If authentic, it would make it the third mass shooting this year announced in advance on the website, which often features far-right and racist content. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement responds to the active shooter The racist four-page document, titled “The Inconvenient Truth”, calls the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A shopper hiding with an old lady behind the return and exchanges counter as the shooting began. Aaron Castaneda/Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Ambulances in the car park near the scene It is ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, that claimed 21 lives. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Kendall Long (left) comforts Kianna Long (right) who was in the freezer section of Walmart. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store epa07755367 Police stand at attention after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, USA, 03 August 2019. According to reports, at least one person was killed and at least 18 people injured and transported to local hospitals. One suspect is in custody. EPA/IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shopping carts sit next to a curb after the shooting. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso Fire Medical personnel arrive at the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Walmart employees react after. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman runs to police near the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Several law enforcement agencies respond. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification centre. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Residents Erica Rios, 36, and Alma Rios, 61, cry outside a reunification centre. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People gather in Juarez, Mexico, in a vigil for the Mexican nationals who were killed. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A child takes part in a vigil in Ciudad Juarez AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Francisco Castaneda joins mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, meets with mass shooting survivor, Rosemary, at University Medical Centre Beto O'Rourke Facebook via AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A sign is posted near the scene Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Police cars parked below the Walmart sign block a road outside while investigating. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Sherie Gramlich reacts during a vigil. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A man places flowers at the site Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at the Walmart store Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Lupe Lopez holds a picture of a victim during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ REUTERS El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher who was married and the mother of two adult children, was one of the victims Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People with the Mexican flag and the US flag take part in a rally against hate a day Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People raise their arms in the air during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react and embrace each other Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Women light candles at a make shift memorial at the site of a mass shooting EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Adria Gonzalez (centre) who is being hailed as a hero for leading some Walmart customers to safety, speaks to the crowd AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People hold up their phones AFP/Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Beto O'Rourke speaks to the crowd AFP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react during a prayer and candle vigil organized by the city, after a shooting left 20 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall WalMart in El Paso, Texas, on August 4, 2019. - A shooting at a Walmart store in Texas left multiple people dead. At least one suspect was taken into custody after the shooting in the border city of El Paso, triggering fear and panic among weekend shoppers as well as widespread condemnation. It was the second fatal shooting in less than a week at a Walmart store in the US and comes after a mass shooting in California last weekend. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty

When his motorcade made its way to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, to meet survivors, around 100 people were gathered blocks away in a grassy field where they held signs reading “Dump Trump” and “Do Something!”. Pro-Trump flags were also seen in the city, boosting the embattled president.

In El Paso, where more than two dozen people were also injured, allegedly by a man who had posted an anti-immigrant screed online minutes before the attack, a protest featured calls for tolerance and acceptance in advance of the arrival of a president known for his rhetorical assaults on minorities in the country.

Gracie Lawrence, a woman in her seventies, was at a protest in El Paso’s Washington Park, where people said it was a slap in the face that Mr Trump had visited their city. “His words make a difference,” she said. “[Some people now think] it’s ok to racist because Trump has been promoting the same rhetoric.”

Shawn Nixon, 20, was present in the Walmart on Saturday morning as the gunfire started. He and a woman fell to ground to take cover, and he then grabbed a youngster crying for its mother.

Donald Trump says his rhetoric 'brings people together' ahead of visiting sites of mass shootings

At some point he saw a body lying motionless to his left. “Then I closed my eyes and from that point, things went rather hazy. The next thing I knew was when someone grabbed me and took me outside,” he said.

He said he was having trouble sleeping and eating and was seeing a counsellor, and yet was determined to attend the protest to make a stand.

“I’ve come to support my community, but also to ask the president to take back his comments about immigrants,” he said.

Mr Trump was also criticised by a number of the people seeking to challenge him in 2020.

The first lady and the president arrive in El Paso (Reuters) (REUTERS)

“This president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation. His low-energy, vacant-eyed mouthing of the words written for him condemning white supremacists this week, I don’t believe fooled anyone,” Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic front-runner, said during a speech in Iowa.

Mr Trump, who did not speak in Ohio, opting instead to flash the press corps a thumbs up, responded on Twitter from Air Force One en-route to El Paso: “Watching Sleepy Joe Biden making a speech. Sooo Boring!”

The president’s dual visits come just days after the two mass shootings, which have once again revealed deep divisions and racial animus in a country where firearms are freely available.

In the days that have followed, Mr Trump has been attacked for his tendency to scapegoat immigrants and minorities during his rallies and during official remarks while defending white supremacists and nationalists.

And, as the nation has once again grappled with a gun violence epidemic seen nowhere else in the industrialised world, he and other Republicans have found themselves under fire for refusing to bring forward gun reform laws in the Senate that could ban the sale of semi-automatic military-style rifles, ensure universal background checks for firearms, and lead to other protections.

Mr Trump did not visit the actual site of either shooting.

On a road overlooking the Walmart in El Paso, demonstrators held banners condemning white supremacism and calling on politicians to “call it was it is”.

Nicole Gonzalez and her 16-year-old daughter struggled to hold back their tears. Ms Gonzalez said they knew nobody who had been killed but that some of their family and friends had been in the store.

Ms Gonzalez said she was a Republican but that she was married to a Hispanic man and did not like the way Mr Trump had “made everything about immigration”.