Trump says if Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims 'had protection inside, the results would have been far better'
Asked whether Saturday's deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue would prompt him to rethink gun policy, President Trump suggested fewer people would have been killed had they been armed or guarded at worship.
"Well, again, this has little to do with it, if you take a look — if they had protection inside [the synagogue], the results would have been far better," he said. "This is a dispute that will always exist, I suspect, but if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a very much different situation. They didn't."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Later Saturday, Trump offered different remarks. "This evil anti-Semitic attack is an attack on all of us; it is an assault on humanity," he said at a rally in Illinois. "The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue. ... It must be confronted and condemned everywhere it rears its very ugly head."
Watch a clip of Trump's "protection" comments below. Bonnie Kristian
This is a breaking news story and has been updated throughout.
-
Political cartoons for February 11Cartoons Wednesday's political cartoons include erasing Epstein, the national debt, and disease on demand
-
The Week contest: Lubricant larcenyPuzzles and Quizzes
-
Can the UK take any more rain?Today’s Big Question An Atlantic jet stream is ‘stuck’ over British skies, leading to ‘biblical’ downpours and more than 40 consecutive days of rain in some areas
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
