Former President Donald Trump faced criticism for his comments following a recent school shooting in Iowa during a campaign event.
While expressing condolences for the tragedy, Trump's remarks urging people to "get over it" were widely perceived as insensitive. Despite acknowledging the terrible nature of the incident, his message to move forward and his mention of the devastation faced by the victims received considerable backlash for being dismissive and lacking empathy.
Trump said:
“It’s a very terrible thing that happened. And it’s just horrible to see that happening. It’s just horrible."
"It’s so surprising to see it here, but you have to get over it. You have to move forward. We have to move forward."
"But to the relatives and all of the people who are so devastated right now to a point they can’t breathe, they can’t live, we are with you all the way.”
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
On January 4th, a tragic incident occurred at a school in Perry, Iowa, where a 17-year-old suspect fatally shot a sixth grader and wounded five others, including the school's principal.
Trump made these remarks merely a day after the tragedy.
Many have condemned Trump's remarks.
Mitch Mortvedt from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation reported that the attacker had made several social media posts in the vicinity of the shooting. He mentioned that law enforcement officials were actively securing these pieces of evidence.
Mortvedt further emphasized that all the available evidence indicated that the shooter was the sole perpetrator; he began firing his weapon round 20 minutes before classes were due to begin and was later determined to have died by suicide.