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In a measured statement that was revised by aides until moments before he spoke, Trump did not describe the gunman in any way or suggest what might have been behind his actions. He praised the first responders who he said prevented further loss of life and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. He offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying, “We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss.”
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Before he was a candidate, Trump at one point favored some gun restrictions. He has more recently cast himself as an ardent protector of the Second Amendment. Though Sanders did not dismiss a question about the potential for a bipartisan effort on guns, raising the possibility that Trump might be willing to cross the aisle and work with Democratic leaders, the president has proclaimed that if more “good guys” were armed with firearms, there would be fewer gun tragedies.
He told the National Rifle Association this year that it had a “true friend” in the White House, and he signed a resolution passed by the GOP-led Congress blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people.
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After the Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub that left 49 dead, he tweeted, “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism.” In the wake of a deadly terror attack in London in June, he went after the city’s mayor on Twitter, suggesting he wasn’t taking the attacks seriously enough.