Trump vows to end epidemic of mass shootings
WASHINGTON — In a solemn address from the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump condemned the gunmen who carried out two deadly mass shootings over the weekend and the racism that motivated one of them — but stopped short of calling for stricter gun laws to prevent future attacks.
“These barbaric slaughters are an assault upon our communities, an attack against our nation and a crime against all of humanity,” Trump said. “Hate has no place in America. In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”
As the death toll rose to 31 from the twin shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, a divisive president who regularly issues harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric — and who has often re-tweeted statements and images from known white supremacists — struggled to comfort a grieving, inflamed nation.
Reading from a teleprompter, Trump vowed to act “with urgent resolve” to end the uniquely American epidemic of mass shootings, blaming the internet, violent video games and mental health problems as contributing factors.
But Trump pointedly did not endorse rising calls for stricter laws to keep guns out of the hands of likely killers, and did not call for Congress to return from summer recess to consider new reforms.
He instead held the individual shooters responsible, describing one as “wicked” and the other as a “twisted monster.”
“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun,” Trump said.
Hours earlier, Trump had suggested on Twitter that he could support “strong background checks” for gun buyers if Congress should enact them, but he did not repeat that pledge in his comments.
“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform,” he tweeted.
Lawmakers and White House aides largely dismissed his suggestion that two of the nation's most politically combustible issues could advance in Congress by being tied together, however.
Trump had endorsed gun law reforms, including expanded background checks, after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., but quickly reversed himself after meeting with the National Rifle Association.
The co-sponsors of a bill to strengthen background checks, Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., and Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., both spoke with Trump on Monday about taking up their legislation, which failed to garner the required 60 Senate votes to advance in 2013 months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“The president showed a willingness to work with us,” they said in a statement.
Two Democratic bills that would expand background checks passed the House in February with scant Republican support, and neither has been taken up by the GOP-controlled Senate.
Trump, for his part, has threatened to veto the bills should they ever get to his desk, calling them a breach of Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.
The first bill would expand background checks for buyers in all gun sales and most gun transfers, including private transfers. The other would give the federal government additional time to complete a background check on someone trying to buy a gun from a licensed dealer before the sale can be finalized.
Trump, who offered several ideas in his comments aside from tightening the nation's gun laws, said he would direct the Department of Justice to work more closely with local law enforcement to disrupt potential shooters.
He also called for more so-called red-flag laws, which enable police or family members to petition a state court to temporarily remove firearms from someone who may present a danger to others or themselves.
The president also suggested that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders should receive the death penalty and be executed quickly.
Democrats, including several 2020 candidates, have blamed Trump for inciting violence against immigrants with racist language, which reportedly was echoed by the shooter who killed 20 people in El Paso on Saturday.