Let’s not pussyfoot around this one, dear reader.

The president of the United States needs to cease using the kind of inflammatory rhetoric he has been using against members of the media.

Americans are awakening today trying to digest the impact of a mass shooting at the Annapolis (Md.) Capital-Gazette. Five people were gunned down by a man with a shotgun. He allegedly had a grievance against the newspaper, stemming from a defamation lawsuit he had filed; the judge tossed his suit.

It is fair to ask at this moment, in this overheated time of discord and dispute, whether Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric might be at the very least partially responsible for the tragedy that befell the Capital-Gazette.

The newspaper’s editorial page this morning declared that the staff is “speechless” and urges Americans to seek to become better as a result.

The president immediately offered his “thoughts and prayers” for the victims. He thanked the first responders for the rapid reaction to the tragedy.

Now, let’s get to the rest of it, Mr. President. None of us can know with absolute certainty whether this shooter was driven by the intense anti-media rhetoric that has come from the president, who has labeled the media to be the “enemy of the American people.”

The juxtaposition, however, of the shooting and the backdrop of the intense hatred of the media that has boiled up in some political circles make many of us wonder.

It’s time to dial it back, Mr. President.

As CNN.com reported: The newspaper, which was reeling from the attack, defiantly tweeted on Thursday: “Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow.”

Its mission continues.

God bless them.