{"id":58969,"date":"2018-02-16T06:30:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T06:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58969"},"modified":"2018-02-16T06:30:31","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T06:30:31","slug":"obama-ran-out-of-words-on-mass-shootings-trump-has-struggled-to-find-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/obama-ran-out-of-words-on-mass-shootings-trump-has-struggled-to-find-them.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama ran out of words on mass shootings. Trump has struggled to find them."},"content":{"rendered":"

Obama ran out of words on mass shootings. Trump has struggled to find them.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

As he heads to Florida this weekend, President Trump is following in the footsteps of former president Barack Obama, a man he disparages and a leader whose time in office in many ways came to be defined by mass shootings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obama bequeathed on his successor an almost ritualistic response to gun tragedies, beginning with the 2011 attack on then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and ending with the 2016 Dallas attack that left five officers dead. There were 15 speeches from the White House, countless prayers for the fallen and more than a dozen visits to the crime scenes.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the while, Obama traveled a path from empathy and promises of action to anger and, ultimately, defeat. \u201cI am not naive,\u201d Obama said in Dallas. \u201cI have seen how inadequate my own words have been.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump, beginning the second year of his presidency with his third major mass shooting, has a different problem. His challenges when it comes to connecting with a grieving public are often both personal and political.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Obama simply ran out of things to say about the nation\u2019s unending string of gun tragedies, Trump \u2014 who often strains to express empathy \u2014 has struggled to find much to say about them at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement from the White House on Thursday morning about the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Trump promised to work with state and local leaders to \u201ctackle the difficult issue of mental health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But his remarks, which lasted about six minutes, were so generic that they could have applied to any catastrophe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo every parent, teacher and child who is hurting so badly, we are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do to ease your pain,\u201d he said, reading from a script in a practiced monotone in the Diplomatic Room of the White House. \u201cWe are all joined together as one American family, and your suffering is our burden also.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The comments mirrored what he said in September after the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen one American suffers \u2014 and I say this quite a bit, especially lately, when you see what\u2019s going on \u2014 we all suffer,\u201d Trump said in the storm\u2019s aftermath. \u201cWe\u2019re one American family brought together in times of tragedy by the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty that we have for one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

And they struck a discordant tone with his presidency so far. His call to \u201canswer hate with love\u201d and \u201ccruelty with kindness\u201d came from a president who responds to criticism by punching back \u201c10 times harder,\u201d as his wife once said, and who takes pride in demeaning rivals with insulting nicknames.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s most genuine emotion \u2014 the one that attracted legions of followers to his presidential campaign \u2014 is his anger, aides say.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got elected on \u2018Drain the Swamp,\u2019 \u2018Lock Her Up,\u2019 \u2018Build a Wall,\u2019\u2009\u201d Stephen K. Bannon, Trump\u2019s former chief strategist, said in a recent interview. \u201cAnger and fear is what gets people to the polls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But anger has seemed off-limits for Trump when it comes to the root causes of mass shootings and the unwillingness to act in Washington. Polls suggest widespread support for gun-control legislation, but Trump has remained loyal to supporters who believed that Obama was trying to take away their guns. Instead, he has repeatedly pointed to mental illness as the cause of mass killings, including the one in Florida, though his administration has moved to cut spending on such care.<\/span><\/p>\n

For presidents, the hours and days after mass shootings can be clarifying \u2014 exposing both their strengths and weaknesses as leaders. Some of Obama\u2019s most memorable, moving and eloquent moments came in the wake of such tragedies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t tolerate this anymore,\u201d Obama said at an evening prayer vigil after the killings of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. \u201cThese tragedies must end.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the slaughter of nine parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., Obama led an arena full of mourners in \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But he was never able to mobilize Congress or the country to action \u2014 despite the vast public support for gun-control legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I think about those kids, it gets me mad,\u201d Obama said in 2016, with tears rolling down his face, as he recalled the Newtown massacre while surrounded by victims of mass shootings at the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the campaign trail, Trump had a unique ability to connect with voters, presenting himself as someone who understood their problems and was fighting for them. Those connections have been tougher for him to forge as president \u2014 especially on issues such as gun control where he is out of step with most of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than offer policy solutions, Trump has stuck with general expressions of sadness following mass shootings.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Thursday, he promised to visit Parkland to \u201cmeet with families and local officials and to continue coordinating the federal response.\u201d Trump could make such a visit this weekend, when he is slated to stay at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later this month, Trump said, he will meet with the country\u2019s governors and attorneys general to discuss mental health and making schools \u201csafer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe must actually make that difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump followed a nearly identical routine in early October after the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, which left more than 50 dead at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. After that tragedy, there were calls for Congress to outlaw \u201cbump stocks,\u201d a device used by the shooter in Las Vegas to turn an assault rifle into a rapidly firing machine gun. But Trump chose not to take a position on the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president\u2019s a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,\u201d White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time. \u201cThat hasn\u2019t changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One month later, after a gunman opened fire in a rural Texas church, killing 26, Trump issued a brief statement urging Americans to \u201cpull together .\u2009.\u2009. join hands .\u2009.\u2009. lock arms .\u2009.\u2009. stand strong.\u201d Trump, who was visiting Asia at the time of the tragedy, sent his vice president to the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

The big question for Trump is whether he will pay a political price for inaction in the wake of gun tragedies. Obama\u2019s experience suggests that he will not.<\/span><\/p>\n

In seven years, Obama attended memorial services in Tucson; Newtown; Aurora, Colo.; the Washington Navy Yard; Charleston; and Dallas. By the time of that last visit, Obama had begun to question whether any of the speeches, calls to action and expressions of grief had changed the way anyone looked at the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of this week\u2019s shooting, Obama \u2014 lacking the bully pulpit of the presidency \u2014 communicated via Twitter. \u201cWe are grieving with Parkland,\u2019\u2009\u201d he tweeted on Thursday. \u201cBut we are not powerless.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump seems well aware of Obama\u2019s history and has shown almost no interest in pushing new policies on guns and mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first hours after Wednesday\u2019s school shooting, White House officials were scrambling to get more information and figure out how to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Longer term, the president seemed to be making a different calculation. In his remarks, he spoke of the need for Americans \u201cto work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections, and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By not setting concrete goals, Trump seemed to be betting that he can avoid a legislative failure like Obama\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, he seemed to be wagering, Americans will move on to other issues. Eventually, they will forget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/obama-ran-out-of-words-on-mass-shootings-trump-has-struggled-to-find-them\/2018\/02\/15\/9c173608-126c-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html?utm_term=.125ddac34d75<\/span><\/p>\n

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