Obama criticises Trump rhetoric and compares ‘racist ideologies’ behind mass shootings to ‘followers of Isis’ in powerful open letter

Former president Barack Obama has denounced the divisive language coming from American leaders like Donald Trump, which he says “feeds a climate of fear and hatred” and “normalises racist sentiments”, in light of the shootings in El Paso and Dayton over the weekend.

Mr Obama did not mention his successor by name in his statement, which drew parallels between “racist ideologies” fuelling the kinds of shootings that have left America reeling to the “followers of Isis and other foreign terrorist organisations”.

The former president’s statement follows just days after the attack left at least 31 dead in Ohio and Texas, with the latter being carried out by a white man who reportedly wrote anti-immigrant screeds online before the shooting in a heavily Hispanic city.

There “are indications that the El Paso shooting follows a dangerous trend: troubled individuals who embrace racist ideologies and see themselves obligated to act violently to preserve white supremacy”, Mr Obama wrote. “Like the followers of Isis and other foreign terrorist organisations, these individuals may act alone, but they’ve been radicalised by white nationalist websites that proliferate on the internet.”

He also called upon American politicians to stand up to change gun laws, and for those officials to be held accountable.

“No other developed nation tolerates the levels of gun violence that we do. Every time this happens, we’re told that tougher gun laws won’t stop all murders; that they won’t stop every deranged individual from getting a weapon and shooting innocent people in public places,” Mr Obama wrote.

He continued: “But the evidence shows that they can stop some killings. They can save some families from heartbreak. We are not helpless here. And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”

Mr Trump has been repeatedly criticised in the aftermath of the shootings for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, with those critics citing Mr Trump’s frequent derision of migrants in America as a concerning element of a presidency built around division and fear.

Sandra Cordero, the director of the pro-immigrant group Families Belong Together, placed the blame on Mr Trump, too, in spite of his denunciation of white supremacy on Monday.

“As we watch president Trump attempt to condemn white supremacy, we cannot ignore the role his hateful rhetoric played in the deaths of at least 22 people in El Paso,” Ms Cordero said. “Once again, this administration’s decision to double down on white supremacist ideologies has led to the bloodshed of innocent people.”

The shooting in El Paso is being treated as a domestic terrorist incident by federal investigators.