House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement on Monday blasted President Trump over his response to two weekend mass shootings while calling for the Senate to reconvene and pass gun background check legislation.
In a joint statement, the two top Democrats criticized Trump for not mentioning anything in his speech on Monday about "strong background checks" after he tweeted his support for them earlier in the morning.
"It took less than three hours for the president to back off his call for stronger background check legislation," Pelosi and Schumer said, NBC News reports. "When he can't mention guns while talking about gun violence, it shows the president remains prisoner to the gun lobby and the NRA."
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.
Pelosi and Schumer also said that the Senate must "immediately" come back into session in order to pass background check legislation that was previously passed by the House, with the Democrats also suggesting the public should ramp up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow such a vote.
"The public must weigh in and demand passage of this legislation for the safety of our children," Pelosi and Schumer conclude.
Trump in his tweet on Monday had suggested tying the passage of background check legislation with immigration reform, though he did not get into specifics or mention whether he might support the House background check legislation. In his speech on Monday, Trump didn't bring up this proposal and said that "mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun."
-
Your Party: a Pythonesque shamblesTalking Point Comical disagreements within Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's group highlight their precarious position
-
The Liberal Democrats: on the march?Talking Point After winning their highest number of seats in 2024, can the Lib Dems marry ‘stunts’ with a ‘more focused electoral strategy’?
-
Sudoku medium: September 28, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furnitureSpeed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlementspeed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel
-
Trump DOJ indicts Comey, longtime Trump targetSpeed Read The president is using the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies
-
Gunman kills 1 detainee, wounds 2 at ICE facilitySpeed Read A sniper shot three detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office before fatally shooting himself
-
Trump DOJ reportedly rushing to indict ComeySpeed Read Former FBI Director James Comey oversaw the initial 2016 investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia
-
Man convicted of trying to assassinate TrumpSpeed Read Ryan Routh tried to shoot President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course last September
-
Democrat wins Arizona seat, aiding Epstein driveSpeed Read Democrat Adelita Grijalva beat Republican businessman Daniel Butierez for the House seat in Arizona
-
Trump says Ukraine can win, UN nations ‘going to hell’Speed Read In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the president criticized the UN and renewable energy, plus made a sudden pivot on the war in Ukraine
