(The Washington Times)
In the aftermath of this weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, top Democrats on Sunday raced to blame President Trump for fomenting what they described as a toxic stew of violence and white nationalism, and called for immediate action on new gun controls.
While Republicans struggled to present a unified response to the tragedies, several Democratic presidential candidates accused Mr. Trump of inciting white supremacists with his words and policies, from trying to impose stronger security at the border with Mexico to engaging in high-profile feuds with black and Muslim Democratic lawmakers.
“This president is encouraging greater racism, and not just the racist rhetoric but the violence that so often follows,” former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas said on CNN. “Calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, warning of an invasion at our border, seeking to ban all people of one religion. It encourages the kind of violence that we’re seeing, including in my hometown of El Paso.”
Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, said Mr. Trump “has to stop that racism and that xenophobia immediately.”
“I am sure that President Trump does not want anybody in this country to go around shooting other people,” Mr. Sanders told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But what he has got to understand is that when you have language that is racist, that is virulently anti-immigrant, there are mentally unstable people in this country, who see that as a sign to do terrible, terrible things.”
The White House rejected accusations that Mr. Trump bears responsibility for the shootings. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the administration is willing to discuss “the role of guns” in the latest mass violence, but added that social media and mental illness also need to be addressed. Read more