President Joe Biden responded on Tuesday evening to the tragic news coming out of Uvalde, Texas, as a school shooting left at least 18 children, two adults, and the shooter dead.
In the hours following the shooting, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced that the president had been briefed on the situation and would continue to receive reports as new information became available.
“His prayers are with the families impacted by this awful event, and he will speak this evening when he arrives back at the White House,” she added.
President Biden has been briefed on the horrific news of the elementary school shooting in Texas and will continue to be briefed regularly as information becomes available.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 24, 2022
Communications Director Kate Bedingfield added that Biden had spoken with Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) about the tragedy and had offered the White House’s assistance on any resources that Abbott might need to handle the situation.
President Biden just spoke with Governor Abbott to offer any and all assistance he needs in the wake of the horrific shooting in Uvalde, TX. pic.twitter.com/u3yMHFtcJJ
— Kate Bedingfield (@WHCommsDir) May 24, 2022
Biden began his remarks with the empathy that he is known for, speaking with emotion and from personal experience about what it feels like to lose a child.
“I hoped when I became president I would not have to do this again. Another massacre, Uvalde, Texas, an elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third, fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened, see their friends die as if they are on a battlefield, for God’s sake?” Biden began.
“To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest, you feel like you are being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out. You’re suffocating. And it’s never quite the same,” the president continued. “It’s a feeling shared by the siblings and their grandparents and the family members and the community that is left behind. Scripture says, Jill and I have talked about this in different contexts, the lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. So many crushed spirits.”
Biden's speech on the #UvaldeMassacre started out with the kind of empathy he has always been known for. pic.twitter.com/G2nzuN1tP2
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) May 25, 2022
Biden quickly pivoted, however, blaming the “gun lobby” and demanding that something be done about “assault weapons.”
“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name [are we going to] do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” he asked.
Claiming that mass shootings had gone down under the assault weapons ban and “tripled” after it expired, Biden continued, “The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong! What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone? Deer aren’t running through the forest with kevlar vests on, for God’s sake! It’s just sick!”
Biden's speech on the #UvaldeMassacre started out with the kind of empathy he has always been known for. pic.twitter.com/G2nzuN1tP2
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) May 25, 2022
Biden concluded his remarks with a clear warning to his political opponents, saying that he would “not forget” those who stood in the way of “common sense gun laws” going forward.
“Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone?” Biden asked, demanding that people step up and “turn pain into action.”
“We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country, it’s time to act. It is time for those who obstruct or delay or block the common sense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget. We can do so much more. We have to do more,” he said.
The pivot to a partisan demand for gun control was almost immediate — and he proceeded to lay blame on the "gun lobby" and call for a ban on "assault weapons." pic.twitter.com/OBCcW1PvRQ
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) May 25, 2022
Story cited here.
