President Trump today spread blame for two mass shootings over the weekend, condemning white supremacy while calling for changes to mental health laws and criticizing violent video games.
But Trump sidestepped major proposals to crack down on guns in a televised address, and did not acknowledge Democrats’ claims that his inflammatory immigration rhetoric has contributed to violence like Saturday’s attack in El Paso, Texas.
The gunman accused of killing 22 people at a Walmart in the Southwestern border town is suspected of authoring a racist, anti-Hispanic manifesto before the rampage.
“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated,” Trump said. “Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”
Trump had floated on Twitter earlier toay tying changes to background checks for firearm sales to immigration reform, but made no mention of that proposal three hours later when delivering his prepared remarks.
He did not reference any other gun control measures apart from calling for the implementation of “red flag” laws to confiscate weapons from “those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety.”
Instead, Trump decried the “dark recesses” of the internet — which he said “has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts” — and denounced “the glorification of violence in our society” through “gruesome and grisly video games.”
In his roughly 10-minute speech from the White House, Trump announced he is directing the Justice Department to coordinate with government agencies and social media companies “to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before they strike.”
The president also appealed for revisions to America’s mental health laws “to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence,” asserting that “mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”
But Rosie Phillips Davis, the president of the American Psychological Association, said in a statement Sunday that “routinely blaming mass shootings on mental illness is unfounded and stigmatizing,” adding: “The rates of mental illness are roughly the same around the world, yet other countries are not experiencing these traumatic events as often as we face them.”
Aside from posts to Twitter and brief remarks before boarding Air Force One on Sunday in New Jersey, Trump had said little about the shootings in Texas and Ohio over the weekend that have killed at least 31 people.
Trump appeared to lay blame for the bloodshed at the feet of the media, a frequent target of his anger.
“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 Monday on Twitter. “News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!”
Democrats, however, have cited Trump’s repeated rhetoric decrying illegal immigration and undocumented immigrants as an inciting factor in Saturday morning’s El Paso shooting, which the Justice Department has announced it is treating as a case of domestic terrorism.
Within 13 hours of that attack, a gunman in Dayton murdered nine people early Sunday morning before he was shot and killed by police.
During his prepared speech, Trump referred to Toledo, Ohio instead of Dayton, Ohio.
“May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo, may God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio. May God bless the victims and their families,” Trump said from the Diplomatic Room of the White House.
Trump’s slip came at the end of a 10-Minute speech as he read from a TelePrompTer, though it’s unclear whether the prepared remarks included Toledo, or if Trump simply misspoke.
The official White House transcript of Trump’s remarks crossed out the president’s reference to Toledo.