EL PASO (CNN Newsource) — While visiting a city in mourning and victims in the hospital – President Trump praised medical staff for their response to the shooting and said “they’re talking about you all over the world.”

He then pivoted to talk about the crowd size at a rally he held in El Paso several months earlier and mocking the relatively small size of the crowd that joined presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

The president’s schedule included a tour of tragedy — two scenes of mass murder in a single day.

He greeted some of the recovering victims, the heroes, the first responders, signed autographs,

received ovations, applause from law enforcement — as well as criticism.

“Trump has got to go,” the crowd chanted.

It was meant to unite a grieving, scared country.

But President Trump partly used the trips to boost to his own morale too.

“As you know we left Ohio and the love, the respect for the office of the presidency, I wish you could have been in there to see it,” the president said.

During one hospital visit, he praised the medical staff then boasted about the crowds at his last El Paso rally compared to those of El Paso native and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

“That was some crowd,” Trump said. “And we had twice the number outside. And then you had this crazy Beto. Beto had like 400 people in a parking lot, they said his crowd was wonderful.”

All this, as 31 victims lay dead.

For those still recovering, none of the eight victims at the El Paso hospital Trump visited agreed to meet with him.

But two, who had already been discharged, came back to meet the first couple.

The dual massacres have reenergized nationwide calls for gun control.

Trump answered by saying yesterday, before leaving for Dayton, he’ll consider background checks.

“Well, I’m looking to do background checks,” he said. “I think background checks are important.”

But Trump also had multiple conversations with NRA Chief Executive Wayne Lapierre this week. Sources tell CNN Lapierre told the president more restrictive gun measures may upset Trump supporters in deep red districts.

The NRA then tweeted in part “none of the current background-check proposals would have prevented these tragedies.”