To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Mourners visit a memorial in front of Santa Fe High School on May 22, 2018 in Santa Fe, Texas. The makeshift memorial honors the victims of last Friday's shooting when 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered the school with a shotgun and a pistol and opened fire, killing 10 people. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump visited Texas on Thursday to meet privately with families who lost loved ones in last month's Santa Fe high school shooting, and at least one parent came away profoundly unimpressed by the commander-in-chief's behavior.
"It was like talking to a toddler," said Rhonda Hart, an Army veteran whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the shooting, which left eight students and two teachers dead. "He kept calling [the shooter] this wacky kid who was wearing a wacky trench coat."
\u201cAgain, in a normal presidency, this would be big/headline news (parent of dead schoolkid meets president and thinks prez is acting like a toddler!) but with Trump, even for his supporters, such behaviour is taken for granted. Baked in. Expected even. \n\nWe shrug. We move on. https://t.co/zNe1FyIufd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1527861110
After Trump continued to use the word "wacky" to describe the shooter--who was identified shortly after the massacre as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis--Hart recounted that she told the president "he might have been depressed, but he wasn't wacky."
"If that kid needed help, he needed to have proper access to it," Hart said in an interview with People. "I said all that and [Trump] didn't say anything. He was just like, 'Uhhhh ...'"
According to Hart, Trump also "kept mentioning" his plan to arm teachers, which has been widely denounced by educators themselves.
When Hart suggested having veterans serve as "sentinels" in schools, Trump reportedly responded, "And arm them?"
"No," Hart said.
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
President Donald Trump visited Texas on Thursday to meet privately with families who lost loved ones in last month's Santa Fe high school shooting, and at least one parent came away profoundly unimpressed by the commander-in-chief's behavior.
"It was like talking to a toddler," said Rhonda Hart, an Army veteran whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the shooting, which left eight students and two teachers dead. "He kept calling [the shooter] this wacky kid who was wearing a wacky trench coat."
\u201cAgain, in a normal presidency, this would be big/headline news (parent of dead schoolkid meets president and thinks prez is acting like a toddler!) but with Trump, even for his supporters, such behaviour is taken for granted. Baked in. Expected even. \n\nWe shrug. We move on. https://t.co/zNe1FyIufd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1527861110
After Trump continued to use the word "wacky" to describe the shooter--who was identified shortly after the massacre as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis--Hart recounted that she told the president "he might have been depressed, but he wasn't wacky."
"If that kid needed help, he needed to have proper access to it," Hart said in an interview with People. "I said all that and [Trump] didn't say anything. He was just like, 'Uhhhh ...'"
According to Hart, Trump also "kept mentioning" his plan to arm teachers, which has been widely denounced by educators themselves.
When Hart suggested having veterans serve as "sentinels" in schools, Trump reportedly responded, "And arm them?"
"No," Hart said.
President Donald Trump visited Texas on Thursday to meet privately with families who lost loved ones in last month's Santa Fe high school shooting, and at least one parent came away profoundly unimpressed by the commander-in-chief's behavior.
"It was like talking to a toddler," said Rhonda Hart, an Army veteran whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the shooting, which left eight students and two teachers dead. "He kept calling [the shooter] this wacky kid who was wearing a wacky trench coat."
\u201cAgain, in a normal presidency, this would be big/headline news (parent of dead schoolkid meets president and thinks prez is acting like a toddler!) but with Trump, even for his supporters, such behaviour is taken for granted. Baked in. Expected even. \n\nWe shrug. We move on. https://t.co/zNe1FyIufd\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1527861110
After Trump continued to use the word "wacky" to describe the shooter--who was identified shortly after the massacre as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis--Hart recounted that she told the president "he might have been depressed, but he wasn't wacky."
"If that kid needed help, he needed to have proper access to it," Hart said in an interview with People. "I said all that and [Trump] didn't say anything. He was just like, 'Uhhhh ...'"
According to Hart, Trump also "kept mentioning" his plan to arm teachers, which has been widely denounced by educators themselves.
When Hart suggested having veterans serve as "sentinels" in schools, Trump reportedly responded, "And arm them?"
"No," Hart said.