SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Former U.S. President Donald Trump reads the names of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas mass shooting during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention on May 27, 2022 in Houston. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
'Grotesque': Disgust as Trump Reads Names of Uvalde Victims at NRA Convention
Former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were among those pushing a "good guys with guns" theory that "utterly failed" the latest victims of a mass shooting.
May 28, 2022
Former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday doubled down on a pro-gun response to gun violence as they addressed the National Rifle Association's conference in Houston--a gathering that opened just three days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead.
Among the elements of Trump's apparently poorly attended speech that drew criticism on social media was his reading of the Uvalde victims' names, each of which was followed by a bell sound, and a brief dance-like movement right after he concluded his remarks.
"What is wrong with these people?" asked one observer. Another called it "a grotesque caricature of sympathy."
\u201cTrump reads the names of the Uvalde shooting victims, with a bell ringing after each of them\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1653683324
Rejecting the idea that Congress should take up legislation to address easy access to guns, the former Republican president said instead it was necessary to "harden our schools" and proposed a militarized security system in which all educational buildings "have a single point of entry," armed officers, armed teachers, metal detectors, and classroom doors that lock from the inside.
But in Uvalde, as The Associated Press noted, a locked classroom door "kept victims in and police out."
Trump also vowed to "crack down on violent crime like never before" should he win the presidency for a second time.
His remarks came after a similarly falsehood-pushing speech from Cruz, one of the Republicans who's faced heightened criticism over his campaign cash from the gun lobby and his opposition to gun control legislation.
\u201cTed Cruz blames the shooting in Uvalde on video games, social media, absence of faith.\n\nNot that an 18-year-old can legally buy an assault rifle.\nNot that he actively stops gun safety legislation.\nNot that the NRA buys out politicians like himself.\n\nAnything but his own actions.\u201d— Giffords (@Giffords) 1653686286
As Trump later echoed, the Texas Republican said that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"--a theory that, as MSNBC host Chris Hayes put it Friday, "utterly failed" in Uvalde and reveals "the bankruptcy of the arms race theory of violence prevention."
Gun control advocate David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, also took issue with the popular right-wing refrain of "armed good guys" stopping "armed bad guys."
"But they didn't [in Uvalde] and they didn't in Parkland," Hogg tweeted Friday. "Stop endangering ... the lives of our students, teachers, and first responders."
"First responders," he said, "should be our last resort not our first to stopping a shooting."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday doubled down on a pro-gun response to gun violence as they addressed the National Rifle Association's conference in Houston--a gathering that opened just three days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead.
Among the elements of Trump's apparently poorly attended speech that drew criticism on social media was his reading of the Uvalde victims' names, each of which was followed by a bell sound, and a brief dance-like movement right after he concluded his remarks.
"What is wrong with these people?" asked one observer. Another called it "a grotesque caricature of sympathy."
\u201cTrump reads the names of the Uvalde shooting victims, with a bell ringing after each of them\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1653683324
Rejecting the idea that Congress should take up legislation to address easy access to guns, the former Republican president said instead it was necessary to "harden our schools" and proposed a militarized security system in which all educational buildings "have a single point of entry," armed officers, armed teachers, metal detectors, and classroom doors that lock from the inside.
But in Uvalde, as The Associated Press noted, a locked classroom door "kept victims in and police out."
Trump also vowed to "crack down on violent crime like never before" should he win the presidency for a second time.
His remarks came after a similarly falsehood-pushing speech from Cruz, one of the Republicans who's faced heightened criticism over his campaign cash from the gun lobby and his opposition to gun control legislation.
\u201cTed Cruz blames the shooting in Uvalde on video games, social media, absence of faith.\n\nNot that an 18-year-old can legally buy an assault rifle.\nNot that he actively stops gun safety legislation.\nNot that the NRA buys out politicians like himself.\n\nAnything but his own actions.\u201d— Giffords (@Giffords) 1653686286
As Trump later echoed, the Texas Republican said that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"--a theory that, as MSNBC host Chris Hayes put it Friday, "utterly failed" in Uvalde and reveals "the bankruptcy of the arms race theory of violence prevention."
Gun control advocate David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, also took issue with the popular right-wing refrain of "armed good guys" stopping "armed bad guys."
"But they didn't [in Uvalde] and they didn't in Parkland," Hogg tweeted Friday. "Stop endangering ... the lives of our students, teachers, and first responders."
"First responders," he said, "should be our last resort not our first to stopping a shooting."
Former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday doubled down on a pro-gun response to gun violence as they addressed the National Rifle Association's conference in Houston--a gathering that opened just three days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead.
Among the elements of Trump's apparently poorly attended speech that drew criticism on social media was his reading of the Uvalde victims' names, each of which was followed by a bell sound, and a brief dance-like movement right after he concluded his remarks.
"What is wrong with these people?" asked one observer. Another called it "a grotesque caricature of sympathy."
\u201cTrump reads the names of the Uvalde shooting victims, with a bell ringing after each of them\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1653683324
Rejecting the idea that Congress should take up legislation to address easy access to guns, the former Republican president said instead it was necessary to "harden our schools" and proposed a militarized security system in which all educational buildings "have a single point of entry," armed officers, armed teachers, metal detectors, and classroom doors that lock from the inside.
But in Uvalde, as The Associated Press noted, a locked classroom door "kept victims in and police out."
Trump also vowed to "crack down on violent crime like never before" should he win the presidency for a second time.
His remarks came after a similarly falsehood-pushing speech from Cruz, one of the Republicans who's faced heightened criticism over his campaign cash from the gun lobby and his opposition to gun control legislation.
\u201cTed Cruz blames the shooting in Uvalde on video games, social media, absence of faith.\n\nNot that an 18-year-old can legally buy an assault rifle.\nNot that he actively stops gun safety legislation.\nNot that the NRA buys out politicians like himself.\n\nAnything but his own actions.\u201d— Giffords (@Giffords) 1653686286
As Trump later echoed, the Texas Republican said that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"--a theory that, as MSNBC host Chris Hayes put it Friday, "utterly failed" in Uvalde and reveals "the bankruptcy of the arms race theory of violence prevention."
Gun control advocate David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, also took issue with the popular right-wing refrain of "armed good guys" stopping "armed bad guys."
"But they didn't [in Uvalde] and they didn't in Parkland," Hogg tweeted Friday. "Stop endangering ... the lives of our students, teachers, and first responders."
"First responders," he said, "should be our last resort not our first to stopping a shooting."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.