President Donald Trump says that if he had been at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed earlier this month, he would have run into the building to stop the shooter—even if he didn’t have a gun.
“You don’t know until you test it, but I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon,” Trump said at a gathering of governors Monday at the White House. “And I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too.”
The President’s comments were meant to be a criticism of the armed sheriff’s deputy who was at the scene, but did not confront the shooter. During the same event, Trump called the deputy’s actions “disgusting,” and said, “They weren’t exactly medal of honor winners,” reports The Hill.
For some perspective, writer Brian Klaas notes that Trump deferred the draft during the Vietnam War five times because of bone spurs, and previously mocked John McCain, who was tortured while a prisoner of war, for being captured. In 2008, Trump has also said that he watched an older man bleed out in one of his hotels and called the experience “disgusting,” expressing concern for the hotel’s marble floors rather than the injured man.
Trump claims he would have been a hero, running unarmed into the school shooting. But in 2008, he bragged about watching an 80 year-old bleed out in front of him at Mar-a-Lago & fretted about the marble floor but did nothing because it was "disgusting." https://t.co/HxOi70oZESpic.twitter.com/8RGR4OEkJv
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) February 26, 2018
BREAKING: DC area man with five draft deferments who mocked tortured war hero John McCain for being captured says he believes he would confront an active shooter—with an AR-15 assault weapon—unarmed. https://t.co/UDQvhLlJGC
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) February 26, 2018
Trump’s comments come at a time when gun reform is once again being heavily discussed across America, and many businesses are cutting ties with the National Rifle Association.
Trump also told the governor’s group that he had lunch with leaders of the NRA last week and that they shouldn’t worry because, “They’re on our side,” presumably referring to the Republican Party.