'VERY FINE PEOPLE'
Trump Blames Video Games and ‘Mentally-Ill Monsters’ for Mass Shootings – But Not His Own White Supremacism
President Donald Trump blamed a wide range of causes – including some that have been debunked, like video games, and mental health – for the domestic terror mass shootings over the weekend that left dozens of people dead. The President in a surprise move also denounced white supremacism, despite having fueled white supremacist hate for years.
Trump did not mention nor did he blame his own white supremacism for the rise in hate crimes, mass shootings, and domestic terror, especially white supremacist mass shootings. And contrary to his own tweets early this morning, he did not propose gun control legislation, which he suggested pairing with “immigration reform,” which is code for anti-immigrant policies.
The President also called on Congress to enact strong and swift death penalty laws for domestic terrorism and white supremacist mass shootings, and asked lawmakers to allocate additional funds for mental health needs.
“In one voice, our nation must condemn bigotry, hatred and white supremacy,” Trump told the nation. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated.”
Trump proposes working with social media companies to “detect mass shooters before they strike,” and demands regulation of violent video games. pic.twitter.com/888s3deoqr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 5, 2019
Trump’s supporters hold racist, white nationalist, and white supremacist views at rates much higher than independents and Democrats.
Trump also blamed the Internet and social media for helping fuel domestic terror mass shootings – while refusing to blame the over-proliferation of guns, especially those that are readily and easily obtainable.
Trump downplays the role that high-powered guns play in mass shootings: “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”
He then proposes an expansion of the death penalty, to be administered with as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/xrKO3hKLs0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 5, 2019
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