US President Donald Trump said it was a "miracle" how quickly the Las Vegas police responded to the deadly mass shooting that left more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured on Sunday (1 October). Twitter mocked Trump over his choice of words, questioning why he chose to double down on using the word miracle while discussing one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern American history.

Trump tweeted on Tuesday (3 October): "It was a 'miracle' how fast the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police were able to find the demented shooter and stop him from even more killing!"

Trump made similar remarks to reporters earlier on Tuesday saying what happened in Nevada "is in many ways a miracle".

More from IBTimes UK

"What happened in Las Vegas is in many ways a miracle. The police department has done such an incredible job, and we'll be talking about gun laws as time goes by," he said. "But I do have to say how quickly the police department was able to get in was really very much of a miracle. They've done an amazing job."

Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Nevada, opened fire on an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killed 59 people and injuring mroe than 500 others. Gun smoke from the rounds fired filled the hotel room and set off the fire alarm. The gunman killed himself before police stormed his hotel room.

Twitter users criticised Trump saying that although the Las Vegas police did do a good job responding to the deadly incident, the mass shooting was still a tragedy and that using the word "miracle" in this context was "absurd".

"Words used by Trump to describe hurricanes, mass shootings, poverty, etc... reveal an incredibly out of touch person incapable of empathy," Adam Best tweeted. "Nobody is disputing law enforcement and first responders showing courage at the scene. This is about Trump's appalling misuse of words."

"Trump, results of skilled work is not a 'miracle'," Tommy Campbell tweeted. "Insulting to those doing their jobs, be it police, fire or even your paid Russian bots."

Some people zeroed in on Trump's use of quotation marks surrounding the word "miracle" in his tweet.

"Your use of quotes is either incorrect or you're being sarcastic. Either way, your poor communication skills come as no surprise," one person wrote. A second added: "Miracle today, warmest sympathy yesterday. Alien vocabulary."

"The real miracle will be if gun laws are ever passed to stop this from happening again," one Twitter user wrote.

donald trump
Twitter users criticised  US President Donald Trump over his use of the word "miracle" to describe the Las Vegas police response to the deadly shooting on Sunday Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Donald Trump Twitter