CNN’s Jim Acosta got into a heated exchange with Sarah Sanders at Monday’s press briefing over President Trump’s hypothetical behavior during a school shooting.
Earlier in the day, Trump mentioned that he would have ran into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the school shooting, even if he did not have a firearm.
Acosta asked “When the president said that he would have run into the school, was he suggesting that he could have saved the day?”
Sanders responded by calling Trump a leader.
I think he was stating that, as a leader, he would have stepped in and hopefully been able to help as a number of the individuals that were in the school — the coach and other adults and even a lot of the students — stepped up and helped protect other students. The point he was making is that he would have wanted to play a role in that.
“Is he trained in firing a weapon? Is he trained in using a handgun or firearm,” Acosta continued before Sanders interrupted him.
Sanders said bluntly, “I don’t think that was the point he was making.” She continued, “He was saying he would be a leader and would want to take a courageous action. A lot of the individuals that helped protect others that day weren’t carrying firearms, which I think shows that you can be helpful in that process without it.”
Acosta then turned his questioning to Trump’s suggestion that certain teachers carry firearms in schools. He noted that people are worried that faculty members, coaches and administrators may be “packing heat in school?”
Sanders mentioned that there are also many parents who want armed faculty and the press should cover that.
That’s why we’re continuing to have the discussions and why we opened most of them up, so you guys can see where a number of these people are and see that there are a lot of voices on both sides. We’re doing everything we can to bring those groups together to unify the country and do everything we can to make sure we’re taking the biggest and the strongest steps forward.