Trump Blames Shootings On Video Games, Mental Illness, White Supremacy While Side-Stepping Accusations About Own Rhetoric

The New York Times: Trump Condemns White Supremacy But Stops Short Of Major Gun Controls
President Trump on Monday denounced white supremacy in the wake of twin mass shootings over the weekend, and citing the threat of “racist hate,” he summoned the nation to address what he called a link between the recent carnage and violent video games, mental illness and internet bigotry. But he stopped well short of endorsing the kind of broad gun control measures that activists, Democrats and some Republicans have sought for years, such as tougher background checks for gun buyers and the banning of some weapons and accessories such as high-capacity magazines. And while he warned of “the perils of the internet and social media,” he offered no recognition of his own use of those platforms to promote his brand of divisive politics. (Crowley and Haberman, 8/5)

The Washington Post: Trump Condemns White Supremacy After El Paso, Dayton Shootings; Focuses On Mental Illness Over Gun-Control
“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun,” said Trump, who was flanked by Vice President Pence and did not take questions from reporters. Trump also called for cultural changes, including stopping the “glorification of violence in our society” in video games and elsewhere. (Wagner and Sonmez, 8/5)

Reuters: Trump Denounces White Supremacy After Shootings, Cites Video Games And Internet
Trump said mental health laws should be reformed to better identify mentally disturbed individuals and he called for capital punishment for those who commit mass murder and hate crimes. He said he had directed the Justice Department to work with local authorities and social media companies to detect mass shooters before they strike. He said the Internet, social media and violent video games had helped radicalize people. Earlier on Monday, Trump had urged lawmakers in a tweet to put strong checks in place on potential gun buyers, suggesting action could be tied with immigration reform. In his remarks at the White House, however, he did not mention immigration. (8/5)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Jumble Of Ideas To Reduce Gun Violence Elicit Mixed Response
“While he is, in some ways, talking about gun violence, he continues to conflate gun violence to other things,” said Kyleanne Hunter, vice president of programs at Brady, which advocates for gun restrictions. “Almost every country has a mental-health problem. Every country has video games. Every country has immigrants and migrants and refugees. Hunter added: “America is alone in the fact that they have a gun violence problem.” (Kim, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Denounces El Paso And Dayton Shootings, But Won’t Call For Stricter Gun Laws
Trump had endorsed gun law reforms, including expanded background checks, following the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., but quickly reversed himself after meeting with the National Rifle Assn. The co-sponsors of a bill to strengthen background checks, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), both spoke with Trump on Monday about taking up their legislation, which failed to garner the required 60 Senate votes to advance in 2013 months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. “The president showed a willingness to work with us,” they said in a statement. (Stokols, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Condemns Racism, Bigotry And White Supremacy After Weekend Shootings
While Mr. Trump called for bipartisan cooperation on gun violence, his proposals were focused on limiting access to guns for people with mental illnesses, and he didn’t call for sweeping restrictions on gun ownership. He didn’t mention a call he made earlier Monday on Twitter for lawmakers to come together to work on “strong background checks” possibly coupled with immigration reform. Nor did Mr. Trump address Democratic criticism that his own rhetoric on immigration had encouraged violence, as authorities investigate one of the shootings as a possible hate crime. The president’s defenders have said he shouldn’t be blamed for mass shootings, which have been a problem for decades. (Lucey, Ballhaus and Andrews, 8/5)

Politico: Trump Explores Executive Action On Guns
The specific moves under consideration this time aren’t yet clear, but Trump could draw from a long menu of potential options. Current 2020 candidates and past presidential hopefuls have proposed using executive action to enforce mandatory background checks for customers of gun sellers who deal beyond a certain annual threshold, increase fines for gun manufacturers who circumvent existing regulations, establish longer cooling-off periods for gun buyers and eliminating loopholes that, in some cases, allow individuals convicted of domestic abuse to purchase firearms. Of course, Trump could also reinstate an Obama-era regulation he undid in February 2017 that was intended to prevent mentally ill Americans from acquiring firearms. (Orr, 8/5)

Kansas City Star: Trump: Quick Death Penalty For Mass Shooters, No Guns For Those Who Pose ‘Grave Risk’
“Today, I’m also directing the Department of Justice to propose legislation to ensure that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly and decisively without years of needless delay,” the president said. (Duncan and White, 8/5)

The New York Times: How The Trump Campaign Used Facebook Ads To Amplify His ‘Invasion’ Claim
President Trump’s re-election campaign has harnessed Facebook advertising to push the idea of an “invasion” at the southern border, amplifying the fear-inducing language about immigrants that he has also voiced at campaign rallies and on Twitter. Since January, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on Facebook that include the word “invasion” — part of a barrage of advertising focused on immigration, a dominant theme of his re-election messaging. A review of Mr. Trump’s tweets also found repeated references to an “invasion,” while his 2016 campaign advertising heavily featured dark warnings about immigrants breaching America’s borders. (Kaplan, 8/5)

The New York Times: Shootings Spur Debate On Extremism And Guns, With Trump On Defense
The politics of American gun violence follow a predictable pattern in most cases: outraged calls for action from the left, somber gestures of sympathy from the right, a subdued presidential statement delivered from a prepared text — and then, in a matter of days or even hours, a national turning of the page to other matters. But after a white supremacist gunman massacred 22 people in El Paso, the political world hurtled on Monday toward a more expansive, and potentially more turbulent, confrontation over racist extremism. Though the gun lobby was again on the defensive, it was not alone; so were social media companies and websites like 8chan that have become hives for toxic fantasies and violent ideas that have increasingly leaked into real life, with fatal consequences. (Burns, 8/5)

Reuters: El Paso Lands In Crossfire Of Debates Over Gun Violence And Immigration
The artist had planned to unveil his mural on Sunday at a community event in El Paso, the latest of his works to celebrate the life of his murdered son. The boy, fatally shot with 16 others in 2018 at a Parkland, Fla., high school, would have turned 19 on Sunday, artist Manuel Oliver said. Joaquin Oliver had been quietly devoted to the cause of immigrants, his father said, and the artist chose El Paso because he saw the border city as an immigration success story. But the slaughter of 20 people at a Walmart store on Saturday just happened to intervene, turning the gathering at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center on Sunday into yet another terrible vigil. (8/5)

Texas Tribune: Hispanics Terrorized After El Paso Shooting And Racist Manifesto
To reconcile that white supremacy-fueled motive with everyday life in El Paso proved insurmountable to locals living in a city where the culture is a unique blend of Mexican and American, where the boundary between it and Ciudad Juárez is practically indistinguishable from a distance. It’s a community that has persevered for years — but especially in the last few — to welcome immigrants coming to the country seeking safety, asylum and opportunity. (Ura, 8/5)