Both presumptive presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, spoke in the aftermath of Sunday’s attack on an Orlando, LGBTQ nightclub that left 50 dead, including the shooter.
While both candidates touched on many of the same subjects, each took a markedly different tack in how they framed their response.
Both candidates expressed their condolences and support for the victims and their families, saying that they stood with the LGBTQ community in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Presumptive Democratic nominee, Clinton, spoke in favor of a ban on assault weapons, noting that the weapon used by the shooter in Orlando was the same as the one used in attacks in Sandy Hook in 2012 and San Bernardino in 2015. “We have to make it harder for people who should not have those weapons of war,” she said. “That may not stop every shooting, or every terrorist attack. But it will stop some, and it will save lives, and it will protect our first responders.”
Trump, conversely, boasted about his endorsement by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and proclaimed his support for gun rights. “I will be meeting with the NRA…to discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror,” he said. “I will be always defending the Second Amendment.”
Both also spoke about the shooter’s alleged connection with foreign terrorist groups, calling for the safety of Americans and a counter push against radicalization. Clinton said that she would make “identifying and stopping ‘lone wolves’ a top priority,” while Trump reasserted his highly controversial proposed ban on Muslim immigrants. The shooter, who was born in New York, would not have been covered by the proposed ban.
Trump pushed back against what he called "political correctness" around discussion of Muslims in the United States, asserting that fear of seeming racist is what stopped people from turning in the San Bernardino shooters prior to the December 2015 attack, and that American Muslims needed to do more to share information about possible terrorists. "Muslim communities must cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad — and they do know where they are," he said.
Though Clinton began her speech by saying, “Today is not a day for politics,” both candidates seemed to take digs at their respective opponents. Clinton said that America is “not a country of winners and losers,” a nod to Trump’s proclamations that, if elected, he will make America “win so much.” And in his speech, Trump criticized Clinton for her support of acceptance of Middle Eastern refugees and immigration reform.