Biden misstates location of mass shootings before correcting himself
Former Vice President Joe Biden misstated the sites of this weekend’s mass shootings during a Sunday fundraiser near San Diego before correcting himself later in his remarks, according to a pool report from the event.
The 2020 presidential hopeful was speaking at the home of businessman Mark Arabo when he referred to “the tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before” before correcting himself, noting the shootings took place in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
{mosads}Biden’s comments come as the U.S. grapples with the aftermath of the weekend mass shootings in the two cities, which were less than 24 hours apart.
President Trump on Monday also misstated the location of one of the mass shootings in an address to the country, referring to Toledo, Ohio, instead of Dayton.
A gunman killed 20 people and wounded dozens more in an attack at a Walmart in El Paso on Saturday before at least nine people were killed and more than two dozen were injured in the Dayton shooting.
The suspected gunman in the El Paso shooting allegedly drafted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before the attack, which described fears of a Latino “invasion.”
“The American people may be running out of tears, but I pray to God we’re not running out of will. A will to do something about what we’re seeing,” Biden said. “You know, we don’t need any more thoughts and prayers out of Washington. What we need out of Washington is a strength and resolve that I have yet to see.”
“There are escalating acts that are occurring not of madness but of absolute, absolute hatred, and we have to call that hatred out and confront it,” he said.
Trump suggested on Monday connecting stricter background checks on gun buyers to immigration reform legislation.
“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform” the president tweeted in the morning.
“We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!”
Updated Monday at 10:30 a.m.