Before flying back to the White House, Trump spoke briefly with reporters about the mass shootings. He stated that hate has no place in our country but would speak more about it tomorrow morning.
He also tried to deflect from playing any part in the hate by saying, “This has been going on for years — for years and years in our country.”
Trump tries to distance himself from any culpability for mass shootings: "This has been going on for years — for years and years in our country." pic.twitter.com/bBi14iVZ1R
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2019
Trump also placed the blame for the mass shootings solely on mental illness and claimed that his administration has done more to address gun violence than most administrations; he did not provide any examples nor any evidence of what his administration has accomplished.
Trump is still trying to blame "mental illness" for mass shootings that are actually the result of a toxic mix of guns and white supremacy: "We have done much more than most administrations … this is also a mental illness problem." pic.twitter.com/dXB4OswtZe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2019
Earlier today, Trump authorized the lowering of flags on federal buildings to honor the victims of our most recent and back to back mass shootings.
Today, I authorized the lowering of the flags to half-staff at all Federal Government buildings in honor of the victims of the tragedies in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019
Today, I authorized the lowering of the flags to half-staff at all Federal Government buildings in honor of the victims of the tragedies in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019