Pelosi and Schumer Condemn Trump After White House News Conference: He ‘Remains Prisoner … to the NRA’
Top Democrats House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) issued a joint statement on Monday calling for a renewed focus on gun control legislation in light of the two mass shootings over the weekend in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
“In February, the new Democratic House Majority promptly did its duty and passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which is supported by more than 90 percent of the American people and proven to save lives,” the Democratic leaders wrote. “However, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has called himself the ‘grim reaper’ and refuses to act on this bipartisan legislation. It is incumbent upon the Senate to come back into session to pass this legislation immediately.”
“It took less than three hours for the President to back off his call for stronger background check legislation,” their statement continued. “When he can’t talk about guns when he talks about gun violence, it shows the President remains prisoner to the gun lobby and the NRA. The public must weigh in and demand passage of this legislation for the safety of our children.”
The public must weigh in and demand passage of this legislation for the safety of our children.
My full statement with @SenSchumer here: https://t.co/YI3NknLBC7
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 5, 2019
President Donald Trump has not called for new gun control laws since the shootings over the weekend in Texas and Ohio that has resulted in 30 deaths combined. Instead, he delivered remarks on the incidents Monday morning in which he called for Americans to “condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.” Rather than focusing on the role firearms play in mass violence in the U.S., Trump took aim at big tech, saying these shootings show the “perils of the internet and social media” and “evil contagion” spread on the internet. (The El Paso suspect published a racist manifesto on the website 8chan prior to his attack).
“These barbaric slaughters are an assault upon our communities, an attack upon our nation and a crime against all of humanity,” Trump added while speaking in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room.
[featured image via Zach Gibson/Getty Images]
