August 4, 2019

Democratic Presidential Candidates Are Reacting to a Weekend of Mass Shootings. They’re Not Mincing Words.

“Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is—he is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country.”

CNN

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On Sunday morning, Democratic presidential hopefuls responded to a grisly weekend of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Many spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that President Trump was responsible for fueling racist acts of violence and for not encouraging common-sense gun policy.

Minutes before the shooting in El Paso, a predominantly Latino city, suspected gunman Patrick Crusius allegedly posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online warning of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas” and detailing a plan to separate America into territories by race.

Asked by Tapper if he thinks Trump is a white nationalist, El Paso native Beto O’Rourke said, “Yes, I do.” He went on, “Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is. He is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country—and this is incredibly dangerous for the United States of America right now.”

Tapper went on to speak with Democratic candidates Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris, Julián Castro, Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Here’s what they had to say:

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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