WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), released the following statement after President Trump’s address to the nation following this weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left at least 31 people dead and dozens more injured.  

“President Trump is literally making up causes of gun violence in America. America does not have more mental illness than other developed nations. We don’t have more violent video games. What we have is a hate machinery that President Trump feeds on an almost daily basis, and a country awash in guns and weak laws that allow young men contemplating violence to easily get their hands on a deadly weapon. If we want to stop gun violence – the kind that happens every day in this nation – we can start with universal background checks, and it's heartbreaking that the President is still so controlled by the gun lobby that he refuses to do what more than 90 percent of Americans want.” said Murphy.

“The President cannot call for a stronger mental health system when he is actively working to take mental health care away from millions of Americans. He can’t call for an end to hateful rhetoric when he regularly villainizes immigrants and African Americans and Muslims. His words today are empty,” Murphy added.

 

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