As gun debate rages anew, Trump is slow to step up
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump acted as consoler-in-chief to a nation despondent over the latest mass shooting of schoolchildren, with an address that aimed to assuage — and steer debate away from the fraught question of gun control.
After a day and night of intense debate inside the White House, the 45th president walked into the Diplomatic Reception Room and spoke to a nation grieving “with one heavy heart”.
“We are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain,” Mr Trump said, addressing the families shattered by a gun rampage that killed 17 children and adults.
The morning after the shooting, he issued a largely symbolic proclamation, ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at government buildings, military installations and at US embassies overseas. But in the immediate aftermath on Wednesday, Mr Trump’s absence had been conspicuous.
At almost exactly the time US authorities first confirmed the toll, in the early evening, the White House sent out a message saying the president would not appear again publicly that day.
In similar situations, previous presidents have, within hours, made an appearance.
Barack Obama’s tearful appearance there after 20 schoolchildren were murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012 was a seminal moment of his presidency.
“Everyone understood, when something of that magnitude happened, that the people expect to hear from the president,” said Obama speechwriter Terry Szuplat, who recalls the 44th president carrying out that duty at least 15 times.
“No one needed to come and tell us to start working, we understood the magnitude of these situations. We knew that at some point, somewhere he would have to come out and speak. It was expected, required and necessary.”
Mr Trump, as ever in his rule-breaking presidency, initially chose to do things differently. His only comments ON Wednesday were a pair of tweets offering “prayers and condolences” and saying he spoke to Florida Governor Rick Scott and was “working closely with law enforcement on the terrible Florida school shooting”.
Inside any White House, there is a delicate conversation about what to say after a mass shooting and how to say it.
“Somehow this has become routine,” Mr Obama admitted in 2015. By the end of his presidency, he said, he felt unsure what to say and how it could make a difference.
“The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine.”
But according to Mr Szuplat, “there is really only one person who can channel that grief and speak to that grief, and there is only one person who can truly speak for the nation”.
“I know ... how much it means to these communities to hear directly from the president, to hear that ‘you are not alone’,” Mr Szuplat said.