President Donald Trump said Friday, after signing his first veto, that he doesn’t see white nationalism as a rising threat throughout the world.
WATCH:
“Do you see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world?” ABC News’ Terry Moran asked the president. (RELATED: Veto: Trump Upholds National Emergency At Southern Border)
“I don’t, really,” Trump responded. “I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. I guess, if you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that’s a case. I don’t know enough about it yet, they’re just learning about the person and the people involved. But it’s certainly a terrible thing.”
The questions about white nationalism come a day after a man killed at least 49 people while opening fire inside two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
He was later asked if he had seen the New Zealand shooter’s alleged manifesto. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Denigrates Prayer After Mass Shootings In Mosques)
Trump answered, “I did not see it. But I think it’s a horrible event, it’s a horrible thing.”
The alleged shooter wrote in a manifesto, “I chose firearms for the effect it would have on social discourse, the extra media coverage they would provide and the effect it could have on the politics of United States and thereby the political situation of the world.”
He also referenced Western birthrates relative to those of non-white immigrants as motivation for his attack. The alleged perpetrator described Muslim immigrants in New Zealand as “invaders” on “foreign lands.”
AOS (Armed Offenders Squad) push back members of the public following a shooting at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand,, March 15, 2019. REUTERS/SNPA/Martin Hunter
“My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!”