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)
'Like Talking to a Toddler': Mother of School Shooting Victim Reveals How It Felt to Discuss Gun Policy With Trump
"In a normal presidency, this would be big/headline news, but with Trump, even for his supporters, such behavior is taken for granted. Baked in. Expected even. We shrug. We move on."
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."
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.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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."
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."
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.