President Donald Trump on Thursday called reporters into the White House for an event with the family of slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen.

The press availability, which was not previously on the president’s schedule, coincided with former President Barack Obama delivering an eulogy at the funeral service of John Lewis.

The White House press pool was just abruptly called to gather. President Trump has nothing on his schedule for another 90 minutes.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 30, 2020

President Trump called an unscheduled press availability which coincides with @BarackObama eulogy for Rep John Lewis. Trump event ongoing as are Pres. Obama remarks…

— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) July 30, 2020

“We didn’t want to have this swept under the rug, which could happen,” Trump told Guillén’s family during the Oval Office meeting.

Some political observers viewed Trump’s actions as as an attempt to “one-up” Obama or distract from his speech.

meeting with the mother of Vanessa Guillen is admirable, and should rightfully become a White House priority…

…but calling in the pool at the *exact* moment Obama takes the stage in Atl. suggests a pettiness that proves Trump's obsession with one-upping his predecessor again https://t.co/X6Na6qKS0d

— j.d. durkin (@jiveDurkey) July 30, 2020

Amazing coincidence that Trump calls reporters in for a not-on-the-public-schedule press opportunity JUST as Barack Obama began speaking at John Lewis's funeral.

— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) July 30, 2020

@CNN @MSNBC @ABC @CBS @nbc @PBS please don't air Trump's presser live while Obama is giving a eulogy.

If he makes any news, you can report it later or do a screen scrawl

— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) July 30, 2020

https://twitter.com/betsyblaney/status/1288895126018953217

Pretty obvious why Trump suddenly summoned the press; he was watching FOX (of all places!) carrying GW Bush, Clinton, and Obama…he just couldn't stand it.

— Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) July 30, 2020

How petty is Donny Trump? He called an unscheduled press conference at the same time as Obama's Lewis eulogy, in hopes of stealing coverage. How angry will his tweets be later? None of the big newschannels fell for it. https://t.co/kqduAiiGfQ

— Stephen Whitty (@StephenWhitty) July 30, 2020

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