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As a close-knit community in Iowa grapples with a school shooting that killed a sixth grader and left seven others injured, former President Donald Trump had this advice: “Have to get over it.”
“We’re really with you as much as anybody can be. It’s a very terrible thing that happened,” he said Friday during a speech in Sioux City, Iowa. “And it’s just horrible to see that happening, it’s just horrible. So surprising to see it here. But, uh, have to get over it. We have to move forward, we have to move forward.”
An 11-year-old was killed and seven others were injured in the shooting at Perry High School on Thursday, the first day back to school after the winter break. The slain student, Ahmir Jolliff, was a sixth grader at the neighboring middle school.
Four other students and three staff members were injured, including the principal, who remained in critical condition Friday. Authorities said the shooter, a 17-year-old student at the high school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Even in a speech full of dumbfounding moments, Trump’s remarks about the shooting — which he made after nearly 36 hours of silence on the tragedy — stood out.
Even in a speech full of dumbfounding moments, Trump’s remarks about the shooting — which he made after nearly 36 hours of silence on the tragedy — stood out.
Trump’s lack of empathy and sensitivity was painfully evident even when he was running for office in 2016. And as president, he made shockingly dismissive comments in times of turmoil — such as in August 2020, when he said of the Covid death toll: “They are dying, that’s true. And you have — it is what it is.”
In his Iowa speech Friday, Trump also mocked President Joe Biden for the speech he delivered earlier in the day portraying Trump as a threat to democracy.
“Did you see him? He was stuttering through the whole thing,” Trump said. Then he mimicked a person with a stutter.