President Donald Trump said on Monday that if he had been in Parkland, Florida, he would have been prepared to run into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and confront the shooter — unarmed.
“I really believe I’d run in there, even if I didn’t have a weapon,” Trump told a number of governors who convened at the White House to discuss school safety.
“You don’t know until you’re tested,” said Trump. “I think most of the people in this room would have done that too because I know most of you.”
In his remarks, Trump also ripped armed Broward County deputy sheriffs, who, according to reports, failed to take action to protect the students after the shooting was underway.
“They weren’t exactly Medal of Honor winners. The way they performed was frankly disgusting. They were listening to what was going on,” he said. “The way they performed was really a disgrace.”
While Trump has come out in favor of phasing out bump stocks and for more comprehensive background checks, he has also staked out an increasingly polarizing position in favor of arming teachers as a way to curb future school violence. The idea is strongly supported by the NRA, but has faced fierce opposition from Democrats and many of the Parkland shooting survivors.
“It’s time to make our schools a much harder target for attackers,” the president said Friday during his CPAC address. “When we declare our schools to be gun free zones, it just puts our students in far more danger.”
“People that are adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach. I don’t want to have 100 guards with rifles standing all over the school. You do a concealed carry permit.”
Watch above