EL PASO SHOOTINGS: OBAMA CALLS ON AMERICANS TO REJECT WORDS OF LEADERS THAT FEED FEAR AND HATRED
Former president Barack Obama today called on Americans to reject words “coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders” that feed fear and hatred and normalize racist sentiments, a tacit rebuke of President Trump in the wake of the El Paso shooting.
In a statement posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, Obama said such language has been at the root of most human tragedy, from slavery to the Holocaust to the Rwandan genocide.
“It has no place in our politics and our public life,” he said. “And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much — clearly and unequivocally.”
Felicia Sonmez is a national political reporter covering breaking news from the White House, Congress and the campaign trail. She was previously based in Beijing, where she worked for Agence France-Presse and The Wall Street Journal.
