President Donald Trump on Monday, said he and other politicians would have performed better than police who apparently failed to confront the gunman who killed 17 people inside a Florida school.
In a White House meeting with dozens of governors from across the country, he blasted the “disgusting’’ performance of a police officer assigned to the school.
Mr. Trump was referring to police officer that failed to enter the building where most of the massacre was carried out and other sheriff’ deputies who were slow to act after their arrival on the scene.
“You don’t know until you’re tested, but I think I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.
“And I think most of the people in this room would have done that too, because I know most of you,’’ Mr. Trump said.
He said the police now being criticised “were not exactly medal of honour winners’’ and that their performance was “frankly, disgusting.’’
During the meeting, governors challenged Trump’s proposal for arming teachers.
The February 14 shooting spree has mobilised a youth movement that is confronting the influential U.S. gun rights lobby with which the right-wing Trump is closely aligned.
(dpa/NAN)