Jen Psaki Tells Jimmy Fallon She Hopes Uvalde Massacre Will ‘Jerk People Awake’ About Gun Violence

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told NBC’s Jimmy Fallon that she hopes the details of the Uvalde elementary school massacre will “jerk people awake” about the issue of gun violence.

On Wednesday night’s edition of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Psaki sat for a brief interview on the late-night program, and spent a considerable portion of it speaking about the horrific mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.

Asked for her thoughts on the tragedy, Psaki told Fallon “I was thinking about sending my daughter to kindergarten today. And is she safe? Is she okay there? What kind of security do they have? Should they have security?”

“And those are the kind of thoughts that are going through your head when you’re in the White House, too, because you’re thinking about what the country is experiencing, what communities are experiencing, and what you can do to help, help heal, help bring some calm, if you can, in that moment,” Psaki said.

She also praised President Joe Biden‘s remarks from Tuesday night, saying of the president and First Lady Jill Biden, “these are people who know that pain. It doesn’t make it heal it for other people, but they understand what it is and it impacts how they live their lives and how they govern.”

Fallon then asked if this tragedy will be the one to bring about change:

JIMMY FALLON: And do you think that this is going to do something? Finally, are people going to, this is a change, is change coming? What can people do besides vote and volunteer? I mean, what do you think? It’s awful…

JEN PSAKI: Yeah. This is a common question that I, people ask me. And I think the most important thing for people to know is nobody’s powerless in this moment. Everybody has a voice. Everybody can use that voice in many ways. Yes, you can vote. You can also get involved in a lot of organizations. There are amazing organizations fighting for gun reform out there. And that’s another way to get involved. And nobody is powerless. But I would also say that I learned from working in the White House and working in government is that you have to always have hope. You have to always think that change is possible, and that maybe it’s not going to happen next month or next year. I don’t know. But what happens when you have tragedies like the one in Texas, is it jerks people awake in a lot of ways. I mean, guns are the biggest… They kill more kids every year than anything else. That’s a fact. There are more guns in this country than there are people in this country. And those type of details jerk people awake. And that’s sometimes when change happens.

Watch above via NBC.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!