Obama to meet with families of Orlando shooting victims on Thursday

President Obama.
(Image credit: Yuri Gripas/AFP/Getty Images)

On Thursday, President Obama will visit Orlando to pay his respects to the families of the 49 people killed Sunday at a shooting in a gay nightclub.

In a statement released Monday evening, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Obama will go to Orlando to "stand in solidarity with the community as they embark on their recovery."

While in the Oval Office earlier in the day, Obama said the massacre was a result of "home grown extremism" and a "devastating attack on all Americans. It is one that is particularly painful for the people of Orlando, but I think we all recognize that this could have happened anywhere in this country. And we feel enormous solidarity and grief on behalf of the families that have been affected."

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