President Joe Biden will travel to Uvalde this weekend with first lady Jill Biden, the White House said in a statement.
The Bidens will be in Uvalde on Sunday to “to grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting,” according to a White House statement. Additional details will be forthcoming.
On Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman killed 21 people, including 19 children and two schoolteachers. It is the worst school shooting since 2012’s tragedy at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six educators were killed.
“The president and first lady believe it is important to show their support for the community during this devastating time and to be there for the families of the victims,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday during a press briefing, according to a report from The Hill.
In a presidential address Tuesday evening, Biden implored lawmakers to stand up to the gun lobby and come together to pass legislation to curb additional mass shooting, though he didn’t outline specific legislation or hint at any forthcoming executive action he might take.
“As a nation we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” Biden said. “I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don’t’ tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.”
The visit will mark the second time in less than three years that an American president has traveled to Texas to meet with a community devastated by gun violence. In 2019 former President Donald Trump traveled to El Paso after a gunman shot and killed 23 people at a Walmart that was known to be popular with Mexican and Mexican American shoppers. The alleged shooter, who has pleaded not guilty on state and federal charges related to that shooting, posted a manifesto on social media that indicated he was fighting back against a so-called “invasion” by immigrants.
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