The attacks of Sept. 11 brought a country together at its lowest point in history. It was also a time of turmoil in politics after the most controversial election to date had just given George W. Bush the presidency. For those who aren’t aware, the 2000 election came down to just a few “hanging chads,” votes that went unaccounted for.

Even with that looming over the presidency, the entire country came together to show unity after the towers went down. Sports teams had games honoring police and fire departments, Saturday Night Live did an entire special for the tragedy, and both sides of the political spectrum rallied around the president and New York.

“I want you all to know that America today, America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn,” President George W. Bush said to police and fire teams at ground zero after the tragedy.  “The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens.”

Whether or not you believe Bush was a successful president does not negate the fact that what he said and did in the mourning hours of 9/11 were genuine, heartfelt and presidential.

President Barrack Obama had to address the nation 14 times throughout his presidency to try and console the nation after a mass shooting, something he said had become routine.

“Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine,” Obama said. “We’ve become numb to this.”

In someway he was right. We as a nation have become numb to these incidents. Tuesday night in New York was home to once again another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, but what makes this attack different is the way President Trump has addressed this tragedy.

Instead of trying to console the country or address the issue, he sent out a tweet. An impersonal tweet that will sit in between the angry or divisive one that came before and after it.

One could argue that this is just how we address the nation now or that this was in some way more personal because it’s coming from the president himself and not a speech writer. But, unfortunately, his tweet came off as uninspiring and lacked empathy.

Empathy is a funny idea in politics. In someway, politicians should lack empathy. That’s how they win an election and further progress their careers. But on the other hand, how can you truly be a leader if you lack the feelings and ideals to represent and protect the ones you lead?

President Trump has not only been uninspiring due to tweets or lack of empathy. He has demoralized us as a country because of his divisive speech. Just a day after the attack, the president tweeted this: “The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty.”

Apparently the attack was Chuck Schumer’s fault, or at least that’s what the president thinks we as a nation need to hear after a tragedy. We need to hear who’s fault this was. Just a quick fact check, though, would have informed the president that Senator Schumer was part of the “Gang of Eight” who wanted to repeal the immigration policy in 2013.

That doesn’t matter to Trump. He just wants to divert blame onto someone else to avoid any scrutiny towards himself. The only person at fault, though, is Sayfullo Saipov, the person who committed this horrific act.

The sad part of all this is that if the president had addressed the attacks on Tuesday with half of the conviction of his predecessors, he would have received praise from both sides, because it would’ve been so uncharacteristic of him.

President Obama was right when he said we have become numb to these attacks and tragedies, but we shouldn’t become numb to these responses. We need someone who is going stand up in front of the American people and tell them that we need to come together and persevere, not divide and pass blame.