Trump blames 'glorification of violence' but not guns after
mass shootings
President identifies video games, the internet and mental
illness but makes no mention of new restrictions on guns
Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington
@SabrinaSiddiqui
Mon 5 Aug 2019 17.28 BST Last modified on Mon 5 Aug 2019
17.59 BST
Donald Trump has blamed “the glorification of violence” in a
speech that identified video games, the internet and mental illness – but not
guns – as the cause of the slaughter that left at least 31 dead and 53 injured
in less than 24 hours over the weekend.
In his first public remarks on the pair of shootings in El
Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Trump also condemned white supremacy as
authorities said they were investigating an anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant
manifesto allegedly tied to the El Paso suspect.
“The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed
by racist hate,” Trump said. “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism,
bigotry and white supremacy.”
“These sinister
ideologies must be defeated. Hate
has no place in America.”
Noticeably absent from the president’s remarks was any
mention of new restrictions on guns, despite the fact that just hours earlier
Trump had urged the US Congress in a tweet to pass some form of background
checks.
Congress has proven unable to pass substantial gun violence
legislation this session, despite the frequency of mass shootings, in large
part because of resistance from Republicans, particularly in the Republican-controlled
Senate. That political dynamic shows no signs of changing.
Shortly after Trump spoke, authorities said another person
had died from injuries sustained during the mass shooting at a Walmart in El
Paso on Saturday, raising the death toll in that attack to 22. El Paso police
tweeted that the latest victim died early Monday morning at a hospital. No
other details were immediately provided.
Speaking from the White House, Trump called for “real
bipartisan solutions” but pointedly attempted to steer the dialogue away from
firearms.
“Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,”
Trump said, while calling for reforms that “better identify mentally disturbed
individuals who may commit acts of violence”.
He said authorities should “make sure those people, not only
get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement”, but did not
elaborate.
The president also said he was directing the justice
department to draw up a proposal that would swiftly deliver the death penalty
to those who commit hate crimes and mass murders, so that capital punishment
could be rendered “quickly, decisively and without years of needless delay”.
Trump further revived the widely debunked theory that video
games were a factor in mass shootings, condemning: “The gruesome and grisly
video games that are now commonplace.”
“It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround
themselves with a culture that celebrates violence,” he said. “We must stop or
substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”
The president’s comments came hours after he suggested
lawmakers in Washington link background checks legislation to “desperately
needed immigration reform”, drawing criticism for invoking immigration policy
after one of the shootings targeted the predominantly Latino community of El
Paso.
“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong
background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed
immigration reform,” Trump tweeted. “We must have something good, if not GREAT,
come out of these two tragic events!”
Trump also took aim at the media in his tweets, claiming
“fake news” had played a role in the current climate.
“The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in
our Country,” Trump wrote. “Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and
rage that has built up over many years.”
“News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and
unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!”
Top Democrats swiftly condemned Trump’s initial response to
the shootings, with some drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany.
Aaron Rupar
✔
@atrupar
Wow. On @Morning_Joe,
@RepJerryNadler says Trump's response to mass shootings in El Paso & Dayton
"reminds me of the 1930s in Germany."
"What's connection between background checks &
immigration reform? That we have to keep guns out of the hands out of the
invading hordes?"
“What’s [the] connection between background checks &
immigration reform? That we have to keep guns out of the hands out of the
invading hordes?” House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler said in an
interview with MSNBC.
“That’s disgusting. It reminds me of the 1930s in Germany.”
2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, a native of El
Paso, also likened Trump’s comments to Nazi Germany: “The only modern western
democracy that I can think of that said anything close to this is the Third
Reich, Nazi Germany”.
Beto O'Rourke
✔
@BetoORourke
Only a racist, driven
by fear, could witness what took place this weekend—and instead of standing up
to hatred, side with a mass murderer's call to make our country more white. We
are so much better than this president.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1158330513951735809 …
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
....this legislation with desperately needed immigration
reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic
events!
17.9K
3:32 PM - Aug 5, 2019
Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro said:
“Donald Trump is unfit to lead our nation. His words could not be more hollow.
He says “we must condemn racism, bigotry and white nationalism”– but often
serves as their national spokesperson. In this national emergency, our
president is morally bankrupt. We deserve better.”
Twenty-one people were killed and another 26 injured in El
Paso, which sits along the southern border and is heavily populated by
immigrants. Authorities said at least six of the deceased were Mexican
nationals.
The details of the El Paso shooting, at a popular shopping
center on Saturday morning, were still being learned when another massacre
unfolded overnight.
In a matter of 32 seconds, a gunman in Dayton, Ohio, killed
nine and wounded at least 27 more on a busy street in the early hours of
Sunday. The suspect, whose victims included his own sister, was killed by
police when they arrived at the scene.
The events kicked off an all-too-familiar debate over gun
violence in America, which claims roughly 100 lives each day.
Trump has reneged on previous pledges to strengthen gun
laws. After other mass shootings he called for strengthening the federal
background check system, and in 2018 he signed legislation to increase federal agency
data sharing into the system. But he has resisted Democratic calls to toughen
other gun control laws.
In February, the House approved bipartisan legislation to
require federal background checks for all gun sales and transfers and approved
legislation to allow a review period of up to 10 days for background checks on
firearms purchases. The White House threatened a presidential veto if those
measures passed Congress.
At a February meeting with survivors and family members of
the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting in which 17 people died, Trump
promised to be “very strong on background checks”.
Trump claimed he would stand up to the gun lobby, but he
later retreated, expressing support for modest changes to the federal
background check system and for arming teachers.
On Monday, Trump’s speech drew on ideas that Republicans in
Congress can embrace without confronting the gun lobby or restricting access to
weapons.
Trump ally Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority
leader, has raised concerns about violence in video games, while another Trump
confidant, Senator Lindsey Graham, tweeted his support over the weekend for his
own red flag mental health bill.
Associated Press
contributed to this report
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