President Donald Trump claimed Monday he wanted Washington to “come together” after two weekend mass shootings on legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, but he provided no details and has reneged on previous promises to strengthen gun laws.
Trump, who will make remarks to the nation later Monday, tweeted about the weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio that left 29 dead and dozens wounded . He said: “We can never forget them, and those many who came before them.”
The Democrat-led House has passed a gun control bill that includes fixes to the nation’s firearm background check system, but it has languished in the Republican-controlled Senate. And Trump himself has reneged on previous pledges to strengthen gun laws.
On Twitter Monday, Trump suggested that a background check bill could be paired with his long-sought effort to toughen the nation’s immigration system. But he didn’t say how.
Over the weekend, Trump tried to assure Americans he was dealing with the problem and defended his administration in light of criticism following the latest in a string of mass shootings.
“We have done much more than most administrations,” he said, without elaboration. “We have done actually a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.”
After other mass shootings Trump has called for strengthening the federal background check system, and in 2018 signed legislation to increase federal agency data-sharing into the system. But he has resisted Democratic calls to toughen other gun control laws.
In February, the Democratic-led House approved bipartisan legislation to require federal background checks for all gun sales and transfers and approved legislation to allow a review period of up to 10 days for background checks on firearms purchases. The White House threatened a presidential veto if those measures passed Congress.
At a February meeting with survivors and family members of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting in which 17 people died, Trump promised to be “very strong on background checks.”
Trump claimed he would stand up to the gun lobby and finally get results in quelling gun violence. But Trump later retreated, expressing support for modest changes to the federal background check system and for arming teachers.
In the El Paso attack, investigators are focusing on whether it was a hate crime after the emergence of a racist, anti-immigrant screed that was posted online shortly beforehand. Detectives sought to determine if it was written by the man who was arrested.
On Twitter Monday, Trump seemed to deflect from scrutiny over the manifesto, which had language mirroring some of his own. As Democrats have called on Trump to tone down his rhetoric, Trump blamed the news media for the nation’s woes.
“Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years,” he claimed.
In recent weeks, the president has issued racist tweets about four women of color who serve in Congress, and in rallies has spoken of an “invasion” at the southern border. His reelection strategy has placed racial animus at the forefront in an effort that his aides say is designed to activate his base of conservative voters, an approach not seen by an American president in the modern era.
Trump also has been widely criticized for offering a false equivalency when discussing racial violence, notably when he said there were “very fine people, on both sides,” after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of an anti-racism demonstrator.
