Trump’s blaming Obama for the attack:
Trump Suggests Obama Sympathetic to Islamic Terrorists
“Look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Mr. Trump said on Fox. “And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
Mr. Trump, who in a statement Sunday called for Mr. Obama to resign his office over the shooting, then added: “He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands. It’s one or the other and neither one is acceptable.”
Worth unpicking this. The “something else in mind” is Trump resurrecting his conspiracy theories. That Obama does not deserve to be president as he’s not really an American, is secretly a Kenyan and a Muslim. Problem is there is, and always has been, no evidence of these theories. Still a significant minority of Republicans believe them though, most of them Trump supporters. So this plays well to his base.
The “not tough, not smart” makes a little more sense, politically. But if you are going to argue that you need to say what e.g. you would have done better. Trump does not have a policy that would have made any difference.
Banning Muslims entering the US? The shooter was a US citizen.
Prosecute the war on terror better? The US has been successful here in taking out leaders and stunting their military effectiveness. Short of sending in ground troops there is not much more they could do.
Make it easier for people to defend themselves with guns? Actually there were armed security guards in the club. It did not make any difference. Only a fool thinks the problem in America is not enough guns, all the evidence shows the opposite.
Clinton and the Democrats have better policies here, including better background checks on gun buyers and limiting access to military grade weapons. And these policies are popular: most people, even most gun owners, support better background checks. The problem has always been Republican majorities in Congress and the courts, in particular the Supreme Court, interpreting the 2nd Amendment in ways its drafters probably did not intend. But the court and maybe even Congress should have liberal majorities by next year.
