After massacres, Trump urges gun background checks, immigration reform

FAN Editor
President Donald Trump departs from at Morristown municipal airport
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown municipal airport en route to Washington after a weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

August 5, 2019

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. border to an “invasion.”

At a rally in May in Panama City Beach in Florida’s Panhandle region, he had asked the crowd how to stop immigrants, prompting someone to shout “Shoot them.” Trump smiled as the audience applauded and said, “That’s only in the Panhandle can you get away with that statement.”

‘HATE HAS NO PLACE’

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.”

“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!” he wrote.

Democratic lawmakers have fought Trump’s immigration plans, especially building a wall on the Mexico border, and rejected any effort to tie gun control and immigration.

Democrat House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, in an interview on MSNBC on Monday, called Trump’s suggestion “disgusting.”

Democratic Representative and presidential candidate Tim Ryan told CNN, “In the midst of this tragedy … he’s going to tie this to immigration reform? That’s a joke.”

It was not immediately clear what specific steps Trump wanted or what other action he planned to take with Congress on summer recess and U.S. lawmakers not scheduled to return to Washington until September.

BILL WAITING IN SENATE

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for universal background checks for gun buyers, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reconvene the chamber in an emergency session to pass the legislation.

Trump also could invoke his power under the Constitution to call back Congress.

Representatives for McConnell, who broke his shoulder in a fall over the weekend, did not respond for a request for comment.

Representatives for the gun industry’s lobbying group, the National Rifle Association, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The shootings reverberated across the country that has been long seen gun violence. Recent mass shootings by lone-wolf attackers have increased concerns in recent years amid attacks that become known by the cities and towns where they occurred from Sandy Hook in Connecticut and Columbine, Colorado, to Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas.

A self-professed neo-Nazi in 2017 attacked demonstrators protesting against white supremacists, killing one woman and injuring others in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Such attacks have spread elsewhere, with a gunman attacking worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand in March.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, was drowned out by chants of “do something” during his speech at a vigil for the victims Sunday night.

Cries for action also flooded the campaign trail for next year’s presidential election, as Democrats seeking to regain control of the White House and Senate focused their outrage on Trump.

Some Republicans, including former Trump rival Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, called out the threat of white supremacy, which the FBI has warned now makes up the majority of domestic terrorism cases.

“We’ve got to ask everyone in this country – could care less about your party – you’ve got to stand up,” former U.S. lawmaker Beto O’Rourke of Texas, who is among those seeking the Democratic nomination, told MSNBC in on Monday. “There are too many voices that today are still silent.”

U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, whose district includes the Walmart where Saturday’s shooting occurred, separately told MSNBC that Trump may visit the area, saying the White House should “consider the fact that his words and his actions have played a role in this.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration posted two notices of “VIP Movement” in El Paso and Dayton on Wednesday but gave no other details.

Representatives for the White House did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s planned remarks or any planned trips.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Mohammed Zargham in Washington, Daniel Trotta in El Paso and Kim Palmer in Dayton; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Bill Trott)

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