Footage of Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump telling supporters we have to "get over it" in the wake of a school shooting earlier this year at an Iowa high school resurfaced after a gunman opened fire on Wednesday morning at a Georgia high school, killing four victims.
According to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director (GBI) Chris Hosey, two 14-year-old students and two teachers from Apalachee High School died in the shooting.
Here is an unfolding news report.
Following this recent fatal shooting at yet another American school, a vintage clip of Trump's delayed response to the January 4, 2024, fatal mass shooting at Perry High School in Iowa causally doled out platitudes.
“I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa," then-presumptive GOP nominee Trump said at a campaign rally, breaking his silence after nearly 36 hours since the tragedy.
He continued:
"It's horrible to see that happening. So surprising to see it here."
The Perry High School shooting was the first incident of American gun violence in 2024 that killed a sixth-grader and left seven others wounded. One of the two staff members who were shot died ten days later from their injuries.
Trump then told heartbroken Americans still reeling from the tragedy:
"But have to get over it, we have to move forward."
You can see his comments in the video below.
Trump's resurfaced comments reminded frustrated social media users about Trump's stony attitude toward gun violence.
During the 2016 election, Trump praised the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and received their endorsement after becoming the Republican presumptive nominee.
He proclaimed that the presence of more guns in schools and public places is key to preventing mass shootings like the ones that took place in 2015 in San Bernardino, California, and at Oregon's Umpqua Community College.
Following the February 2018 mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, Trump suggested that arming up to 20% of school staff members would prevent "maniacs" from targeting students.
People also thought that Trump telling the American people to simply "move on" was not a helpful response to the tragedy in Iowa or the recent Georgia shooting.
A month after Trump's inauguration, he signed a bill revoking former Democratic President Barack Obama's regulation meant to prevent the purchase of weapons by certain civilians with mental health problems.
Obama's administration predicted that had the regulation taken effect, it would have added 75,000 names, including the names of those who receive federal financial assistance due to a mental illness or who have financial proxies due to a mental illness, to the national background check database.
In 2019, after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Trump refused to support universal background checks.
He argued that existing background checks were already "very, very strong," even though "we have sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle."
Trump's callous indifference toward the pain and tragedy of such shootings stands in stark contrast to how Kamala Harris reacted to the news of the Georgia shooting yesterday, while on the stump in New Hampshire.
