Trump condemns white supremacy, vague on gun measures after U.S. shootings

By Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the shootings in El Paso and Dayton as Vice President Mike Pence looks on in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., August 5, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings over the weekend that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio.

 

Republican Trump, accused by Democrats as stoking racial divisions, said Americans must "condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy," a day after Texas officials said racial hatred was a possible motive in the killings of 22 people in the southern border town of El Paso.

 

A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday's shooting spree. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect, Patrick Crusius.

 

Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures.

 

"These sinister ideologies must be defeated," he said in remarks at the White House. "Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul."

 

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday discussed steps to stop gun violence including working with social media companies to detect mass shooters before they strike, limiting violent video games and reforming mental health laws. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

President Donald Trump on Monday called for urgent action to prevent gun violence and said all Americans must "condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy" after mass shootings in Texas and Ohio killed 29 people and wounded dozens.

Trump, whose rhetoric has frequently been condemned as stoking racial divisions, laid out a number of policy options but did not mention his own past remarks.

"These sinister ideologies must be defeated," Trump said in remarks at the White House. "Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul."

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.

Trump said mental health laws should be reformed to better identify mentally disturbed individuals and he called for capital punishment for those who commit mass murder and hate crimes.

He said he had directed the Justice Department to work with local authorities and social media companies to detect mass shooters before they strike. He said the Internet, social media and violent video games had helped radicalize people.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had urged lawmakers in a tweet to put strong checks in place on potential gun buyers, suggesting action could be tied with immigration reform. In his remarks at the White House, however, he did not mention immigration.

 

Democrats, who have long pushed for stricter gun control, quickly accused Trump of hiding behind talk of mental health reform and the role of social media instead of committing to laws aimed at curbing gun violence in the United States.

 

They blamed Trump indirectly for the attack in Texas, citing his rhetoric on immigrants.

 

Former President Barack Obama, who fought unsuccessfully for gun restrictions while in office, did not mentionTrump by name on Monday when he urged Americans to reject divisive rhetoric.

 

"We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments," Obama said in a statement. "It has no place in our politics and our public life."

 

Janet Murguia, the President of UnidosUS, the biggest Hispanic advocacy group in the United States, called Trumpthe "radicalizer-in-chief" at the group’s annual conference in San Diego, shortly before five Democratic presidential candidates, including front-runner Joe Biden, were due to speak there.

 

Trump began his presidential campaign in 2015 by characterizing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug smugglers and he has repeatedly likened immigrants crossing the border from Mexico as an "invasion." He also has called them "very bad thugs and gang members."

 

On Saturday, several Mexican citizens were among the 21 people killed at a Walmart by a man who drove from his home in Allen, Texas, 660 miles (1,062 km) away, to El Paso, authorities said.

Just 13 hours later, another gunman killed nine people in downtown Dayton, Ohio. The suspect, Connor Betts, was killed by police in less than a minute. His motive was not clear.

RED FLAGS AND BACKGROUND CHECKS?

Mass shootings by lone attackers in recent years have increased concerns about gun violence and the threat posed by racist and white supremacist ideologies.

 

Trump, who has been accused of not doing enough to tackle domestic extremist groups, said he would direct the Department of Justice to investigate domestic terrorism and would propose legislation to ensure that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty.

 

He also said the country needs to reform mental health laws to identify disturbed people as well as work with social media companies to detect possible mass shooters.

 

"We must make sure those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms and that if they do those firearms can be taken through rapid due process," he said, an apparent reference to "red flag" laws.

 

Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said he has spoken with Trump about legislation he plans to introduce in September with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. It would direct federal grant money to states seeking to adopt such laws.

 

The "red flag" bills make it easier for police to confiscate weapons from someone found to pose a threat of violent behavior and have been adopted by some 15 states since a February 2018 shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school killed 17 people.

 

Trump earlier on Monday had called for "strong background checks" on gun buyers, but he did not elaborate on the idea and it was not the central part of his White House statement.

 

"Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun," he said in the address.

 

That comment drew immediate criticism, with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar accusingTrump of trying to dodge the issue of gun control.

 

"There's mental illness & hate throughout world, but U.S. stands alone w/high rate of gun violence," she said on Twitter.

 

The National Rifle Association (NRA), an influential gun rights group, said it welcomed Trump's call to address "root causes" of gun violence, saying those who have been deemed a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms.

 

After a gunman killed 58 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas in 2017, Trump proposed a ban on an attachment known as a bump stock that gives a semi-automatic weapon the capability of a machine gun. The ban went into effect in March.

 

But Trump stepped back from sweeping changes to gun laws that he had considered after the Parkland shooting. He instead backed more modest measures following a private meeting with the NRA.

 

POLITICAL DIVIDE

In a morning Twitter post, Trump called on Republicans and Democrats to work together on strong background checks and possibly combine that legislation with "desperately needed immigration reform."

 

But Democratic lawmakers, who have fought Trump's moves to toughen immigration laws and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, rejected any effort to tie gun control to immigration.

 

It was not clear what action Trump wants to take with Congress on summer recess and lawmakers not scheduled to return to Washington until September.

 

The U.S. House of Representatives already has passed a bill calling for universal background checks for gun buyers, but it has not been taken up by the Republican-led Senate.

 

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Pat Toomey said they had spoken to Trump about their bill that would expand background checks to most gun sales and he "showed a willingness to work with us on the issue."

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Mohammed Zargham and Doina Chiacu in Washington, Daniel Trotta in El Paso and Kim Palmer in Dayton; Editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-06

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1 hour ago, webfact said:

Trump condemns white supremacy, vague on gun measures after U.S. shootings

Vague on details...

 

Quelle surprise. 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

President Donald Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings over the weekend that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio.

Does anyone, seriously anyone, believe that Trump is sincere in this?

 

After the "Mexicans are rapists" and the "Judge is Mexican" and "They should go back where they came from" and "Good people on both sides" and loads and loads more crap, does anyone actually believe that Trump is NOT a White nationalist? NOT a racist? NOT encouraging and enabling this violence?

 

Seriously, anyone?

 

I have said it before and I will say it again...

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all

 

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He also said the country needs to reform mental health laws to identify disturbed people as well as work with social media companies to detect possible mass shooters.

So when someone commits an atrocity that can be used to forward trump’s agenda, they are radical terrorists, yet when they commit an atrocity that goes against his agenda or worse, reflects it, they have mental health issues. 

 

Funny old world trump lives in, everything so conveniently reflecting his rhetoric and prejudices.

 

There is no crime he will not choose to exploit or explain away when it suits his agenda.

 

Mans a disgrace.   

39 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Does anyone, seriously anyone, believe that Trump is sincere in this?

 

After the "Mexicans are rapists" and the "Judge is Mexican" and "They should go back where they came from" and "Good people on both sides" and loads and loads more crap, does anyone actually believe that Trump is NOT a White nationalist? NOT a racist? NOT encouraging and enabling this violence?

 

Seriously, anyone?

 

I have said it before and I will say it again...

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all

 

 

He never said Mexicans are rapists, he said there were rapists amongst the illegal border crossers as a huge percentage of the women attempting to cross are raped,... The judge in that case is a member of a " la Raza" activist group so can realistically be suspected of bias,..... the 'go back where they came from' was an angry and ill advised tweet taken out of context but understandable given the vile unrelenting attacks by the "squad",.... the "there were good people on both sides". is TRUE as many of the unite the right demonstrators simply want to preserve the statues and memorials to their civil war ancestors, history is just history, unfortunate there were some "neo nazis' there... but there were also neofaciest Antifa thugs there.   Misquoting and taking out of context quotes only divide the country more,  just stop.

The 2nd. Amendment does not say that you have the right to bear AR15s and AK-47s. Surreal how the far right claims prohibiting these weapons are a violation of this said amendment. 

 

The yanks have a lot to learn about the responsibilities that come with having weapons, but, alas, more shootings will happen and nothing will get done.

The fall of the Roman Empire, for your modern viewing entertainment.

1 minute ago, Somtamnication said:

The 2nd. Amendment does not say that you have the right to bear AR15s and AK-47s. Surreal how the far right claims prohibiting these weapons are a violation of this said amendment. 

 

The yanks have a lot to learn about the responsibilities that come with having weapons, but, alas, more shootings will happen and nothing will get done.

Well, said.  It seems everyone knows the problem but they are too busy with the tiresome 'right vs left' brainless rhetoric.

More importantly, after the proposed ban on weapons, would they get the millions of weapons from the ghettos?

45 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Does anyone, seriously anyone, believe that Trump is sincere in this?

 

After the "Mexicans are rapists" and the "Judge is Mexican" and "They should go back where they came from" and "Good people on both sides" and loads and loads more crap, does anyone actually believe that Trump is NOT a White nationalist? NOT a racist? NOT encouraging and enabling this violence?

 

Seriously, anyone?

 

I have said it before and I will say it again...

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all

I think this is kind of the point. Even Trump will know that when he tweets 9 times racist comments and 1 time he condemns racism that his supporters will listen to the majority of his tweets. He adds things like this speech that he can always tell somehow: Look, I care and I am not a racist.

But everybody who watches hum permanently knows that is not true.

I am sure his racist supporters will see it like it is: He has to pretend from time to time that he cares - it's part of his job to pretend.

Gard damn, wherrre's ma gurn?

The hypocrisy of the POTUS never ceases to astound me.

He takes days to make a comment, then forgets his own agenda has fed into the feelings on nationalism. The man has no insight at all, and appears to be surrounded by poor advisors.

 

Why not bring in gun law reform, show some intestinal fortitude and do something constructive, as opposed to his current destructive and divisive tweets.

 

 

The teleprompter condemned white supremacists he didn't, the same way it said that the Ohio mass murder was in Toledo not Dayton.  He was reading something that someone wrote to make him look good and I doubt that he would have said it if he hadn't been reading it!  Ivanka probably told him to either read the teleprompter or you won't win in 2020 and someone edited it and changed  Dayton to Toledo, and he read it!

Will they be monitoring Trump's social media posts?

Don't see how the death penalty is going to help. Anyone going out on a shooting spree is quite likely to be killed anyway.

He spent more of his ‘speech’ time and words blaming the internet and computer games.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump, who has been accused of not doing enough to tackle domestic extremist groups, said he would direct the Department of Justice to investigate domestic terrorism and would propose legislation to ensure that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty.

What about penalties for those whose   use of rhetoric encourages those who espouse extremist ideologies?

 

Or is that too close to your own behaviour, trump?

 

maga indeed. 

3 hours ago, daoyai said:

He never said Mexicans are rapists, he said there were rapists amongst the illegal border crossers as a huge percentage of the women attempting to cross are raped,... The judge in that case is a member of a " la Raza" activist group so can realistically be suspected of bias,..... the 'go back where they came from' was an angry and ill advised tweet taken out of context but understandable given the vile unrelenting attacks by the "squad",.... the "there were good people on both sides". is TRUE as many of the unite the right demonstrators simply want to preserve the statues and memorials to their civil war ancestors, history is just history, unfortunate there were some "neo nazis' there... but there were also neofaciest Antifa thugs there.   Misquoting and taking out of context quotes only divide the country more,  just stop.

You must be the most ignorant poster on this site.  He said exactly that... He did not make a distinction between illegal immigration or those crossing the border legally.  You might infer that he was only referencing illegal immigration, but you can't know what he meant.

 

From trumps speech announcing his candidacy for president of the United States on June 16, 2015; he said 

 

"When Mexico sends it people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,".

 

Are you from the south?  There is no need to glorify the confederacy and the ideals for which it stood - slavery, murder, and insurrection.  The confederacy was defeated, leave it to history books. There is no need for monuments to failed states that glorify a past of slavery and murder.

 

If you need a monument to your ancestors, put it in your backyard.

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Does anyone, seriously anyone, believe that Trump is sincere in this?

 

2 hours ago, wayned said:

The teleprompter condemned white supremacists he didn't,

Yeap, most Americans know that Trump won't willingly condemn the white nationalists because they're pretty much his base.  Heck, even his own FBI knows this....

 

[FBI agents are hesitant to investigate white nationalist extremists because they don't want to be seen as pursuing investigations against President Donald Trump's base....]

["There's some reluctance among agents to bring forth an investigation that targets what the president perceives as his base," Gomez said. "It's a no-win situation for the FBI agent or supervisor."]

 

https://www.insider.com/ex-fbi-boss-agents-dont-want-to-target-trump-base-2019-8

 

4 hours ago, daoyai said:

He never said Mexicans are rapists, he said there were rapists amongst the illegal border crossers as a huge percentage of the women attempting to cross are raped,... The judge in that case is a member of a " la Raza" activist group so can realistically be suspected of bias,..... the 'go back where they came from' was an angry and ill advised tweet taken out of context but understandable given the vile unrelenting attacks by the "squad",.... the "there were good people on both sides". is TRUE as many of the unite the right demonstrators simply want to preserve the statues and memorials to their civil war ancestors, history is just history, unfortunate there were some "neo nazis' there... but there were also neofaciest Antifa thugs there.   Misquoting and taking out of context quotes only divide the country more,  just stop.

You lap up his firebrand rhetoric , his utterly divisive dialogue and rampant nationalism. Then when the consequencies become apparent you hide behind excuses and " misunderstandings ",pathetic hypocrisy !

 

When he gives a speech using the teleprompter, he reads what is there and I'm not sure that he even understands what he is saying. ie. Toledo instead of Dayton.  It's really like a SNL skit and most likely Ivanka or Melania  has confiscated his phone and told him that she won't give it back unless he reads the teleprompter.

 

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Republican Trump, accused by Democrats as stoking racial divisions, said Americans must "condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,"

How did he say that with a straight face???

6 hours ago, webfact said:

...and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings over the weekend that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio.

Very few of these mass murderers survive anyway, either kill themselves or are fatally shoot by law enforcement.

 

They almost certainly know their fate anyway so obviously it is no deterrent.

 

just another indication of the low IQ of the POTUS.

Now that Trump has admitted the role of white supremacy, its time to examine the killings by white supremicists. 

 

The white supremicist travelling to an area he knows has a high immigrant population and then gunning down people he believed to be immigrants is not a single un-related act. 

 

It sits alongside white supremicists targeting and gunning down Sikh's, on another day Jews and on another day Muslims.

 

These are not simply mass shootings to be lost amongst kids murdering their fellow school students or a disgruntled worker murdering his colleagues, these are ideologically driven targeted murders of minority groups. 

 

This is white supremicist terrorism and its on the rise. 

 

 

Toledo?

 

TelePrompTer trump is freaky to see. Thank goodness it only happens onec in a blue moon.

 

Real trump...

 

 

Interesting fact. Two thirds of the 119 mass shootings in the so called civilized western world between 1983 and 2013 occurred in the US. I guess for the last six years nothing has changed or may have swung further towards the US. 

But according to Republican law maker Candice Keller the cause is well known being gays, drag queen advocates and all those who don’t follow god. Jeez...and I thought extreme follows of Islam belonged in the dark ages.

Damn. Did he actually mention white supremacy? Wonder how many of his supporters he offended? 

 

Will he actually do anything about it? Will anything get done, with regard to deeper background checks, something one of his primary sponsors (The NRA) has been fighting for years? One thing Trump has demonstrated during his tenure so far, is that he has a very, very hard time saying no to the lobbyists. He pretty much does the bidding of corporate America, and his sponsors.  

It took the election of Donald Trump to display just how crooked, sleazy and amoral the left and Democrats really are. They are experts at cheating and low blows.

 

It also took the election of Donald Trump to show just how whoosie, spineless and easily intimidated

the republicans are. All the Dems and the media have to do is say; "they are racists" and the Repubs piss their pants and start quivering in the shoes. Pathetic.  

8 minutes ago, jb61 said:

It took the election of Donald Trump to display just how crooked, sleazy and amoral the left and Democrats really are. They are experts at cheating and low blows.

 

It also took the election of Donald Trump to show just how whoosie, spineless and easily intimidated

the republicans are. All the Dems and the media have to do is say; "they are racists" and the Repubs piss their pants and start quivering in the shoes. Pathetic.  

Thanks for the rant , now would you like to stick to the topic and address Trump's pathetic response to yet another massacre.

44 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Very few of these mass murderers survive anyway, either kill themselves or are fatally shoot by law enforcement.

 

They almost certainly know their fate anyway so obviously it is no deterrent.

 

just another indication of the low IQ of the POTUS.

Just another diversion rather than addressing the real issues , as I said he is a coward and a hypocrite.

45 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Now that Trump has admitted the role of white supremacy, its time to examine the killings by white supremicists. 

 

The white supremicist travelling to an area he knows has a high immigrant population and then gunning down people he believed to be immigrants is not a single un-related act. 

 

It sits alongside white supremicists targeting and gunning down Sikh's, on another day Jews and on another day Muslims.

 

These are not simply mass shootings to be lost amongst kids murdering their fellow school students or a disgruntled worker murdering his colleagues, these are ideologically driven targeted murders of minority groups. 

 

This is white supremicist terrorism and its on the rise. 

 

 

They are part of Trump's base , he will do nothing that might endanger that support. 

Well done Donald, I suppose it was worth putting that lie to rest(even if nobody really believed it and were just using it as another excuse to bash). 

 What should Warren,Sanders et al do about the Ohio shooter that was a fan of theirs? The old double standards rearing their very ugly heads again....

 Anyway, can we stop with the white supremacist smears now that Trump has clarified his position and stated the obvious?