Donald Trump urged Iowans to move on after a recent deadly school shooting in the state.
On Thursday, Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at Perry High School in Iowa fatally shot a sixth grader and wounded four other students and a school administrator before killing himself.
Speaking to supporters at a campaign event in Sioux Center, Iowa one day after the incident, Trump offered the usual Republican ‘thoughts and prayers’ then told residents that they “have to get over it.”
“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,” Trump said. “To the entire community: we love you, we pray for you, and we ask to heal and comfort.”
“It’s terrible to see that happening,” Trump added. “Just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward.”
Trump’s remarks on Friday were the first time he publicly commented on the Iowa shooting. But, it was not the first time Trump has dismissed school shootings.
Two weeks after a shooter killed six people, including three children at a school in Tennessee, Trump argued that school shootings are a “spiritual problem” and “not a gun problem” during a speech to the National Rifle Association,
After learning the shooter was transgender Trump and Republicans blamed the issue on Democrats, mental health, marijuana and the transgender community.
The shooting came days before the January 15 caucuses, the first nominating contest in the GOP presidential primary.
Trump’s GOP rivals campaigning in the state issued statements on the shooting Thursday, none called for stricter gun measures.
Nikki Haley: “No parent, student, or teacher should have to wake up and face news about a school shooting. My heart aches for the victims of Perry, Iowa and the entire community.”
Ron DeSantis: “I think it is more of a local and state issue…..There’s an underlying sickness in society. And I think that involves things like mental health.”
Vivek Ramaswamy: “Pray for the community in Perry, Iowa this morning.”
