White House Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders, defended President Trump’s modified gun proposals on Monday over mainstream media questions that the Administration “chickened out” over pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
She explained that Trump, “hasn’t backed away” from his proposals, as the journalists charged, but still wants to implement new age restrictions and other gun control measures.
Triggered by a horrific school shooting in Florida last month, President Trump has been engaged in a policy showdown between constitutional conservatives, and radical progressives, and everyone in between over the proper response. The school shooting has changed the conversation about gun safety, fueling outrage across the nation as survivors have flooded the social media, new channels, and state capitols, demanding harsh restrictions on firearms.
The NRA, which lent its enthusiastic support to Trump in 2016 opposes additional gun restrictions, and age requirements.
Sanders said at a press briefing that, “He hasn’t backed away from these things at all.” She further said that “He can’t make them happen with a broad stroke of the pen,” adding that, “You have to have some congressional component to do some of these things, and without that support, it’s not as possible.”
“They’re still outlined in the plan,” Sanders admitted.
“It seemed like President Trump was the one petrified of the NRA,” the Washington Post reporter shot back.
Sanders also said that the White House was currently focused on what it could achieve in the short-term, and pointed out that former President Obama could not do anything on gun control.
“Let’s not forget that the Obama administration had the White House and all of Congress for two years and didn’t do anything,” she said.
“The president, as you know, doesn’t have the ability to just create federal law, and he would need a number of other individuals to come together to help make that happen,” Sanders said.
“What he is pushing forward are things that can immediately be accomplished, either through the administration or that have broad base bipartisan support in Congress,” Sanders said. “But that doesn’t mean that he has wiped away some of those other things that we’re still looking at how best we can move forward on.”
“I think the president is going to be the lead on school safety when it comes to this administration,” Sanders said. “He certainly has been since the process has begun, and he’ll continue to lead on it as we move forward.”
