Trump urges gun background checks & immigration reform
WASHINGTON, Aug 5, (RTRS): US President Donald
Trump on Monday tied any potential action on gun control after two mass shootings over the weekend killed 29 people to immigration reform, and sought to blame the nation’s rising violence and divisions on the media.
Trump, who is scheduled to deliver public remarks later on Monday following the attacks, urged lawmakers to pass “strong background checks” on potential gun buyers and possibly tie it to immigration, a top issue that has fueled his presidency and drawn criticism over his comments about migrants and others.
The Republican president also appeared to dismiss accusations following the two shootings in Texas and Ohio that his rhetoric has stoked racial hatred and provoked attacks amid a deepening political divide.
On Saturday, a gunman killed 20 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, in what authorities said appeared to be a racially motivated hate crime. Just 13 hours later, another gunman in downtown Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people. Dozens also were wounded in the attacks.
Trump, who is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), did not directly address accusations by critics about his anti-immigrant and racially charged comments, but in a series of early morning tweets reiterated his accusations of “fake news” and media bias.
“The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our Country. Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years,” Trump wrote. Democrats, who have long pushed for greater gun control, said Trump was indirectly to blame with some drawing connections between his rhetoric to a resurgence in nationalism and xenophobic US politics that has sparked a rise in attacks.
Trump began his presidential campaign in 2015 by characterizing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug smugglers and likened immigrants coming across the southern US border to an “invasion.”
On Sunday, Trump spoke briefly to reporters on Sunday as he returned to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf resort in New Jersey, telling reporters, “Hate has no place in our country and we’re going to take care of it.”
Trump on Monday appealed to both political parties and said the victims’ should not “die in vain.”