President Joe Biden Thursday evening will deliver a rare primetime address to the American people to discuss gun violence in the aftermath of increasing mass shootings. Wednesday night four people at a Tulsa hospital, including two doctors, were shot and killed by a man being described as an “angry patient” who purchased an AR-15 that day.
This is only President Biden’s second primetime speech.
The White House, as MSNBC notes, was concerned about the President entering the national conversation too soon as Democratic and Republican Senators appear to be working toward a bipartisan deal on gun safety, but recent events have made it necessary for him to speak out.
“The White House had been keeping strategic distance from the legislative negotiations around guns. That will change,” Politico reports.
The White House says “the President will deliver remarks on the recent tragic mass shootings, and the need for Congress to act to pass commonsense laws to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.”
NCRM reported there were 60 separate shooting incidents on Wednesday, including the Tulsa mass shooting. Just 24 of them were found in news stories. Amid those shootings Senator John Cornyn, the Texas Republican charged with representing his caucus in discussions with Democrats on guns, announced he opposes more restrictive gun laws.
“Not gonna happen,” he tweeted.
Watch the President live at 7:30 PM ET.
Video will be embedded when available.