Republican pollster Ed Goeas said in an interview that aired Tuesday on Hill.TV’s “What America’s Thinking” that the U.S. does not take time to reflect anymore after experiencing a national tragedy.
“I don’t think our country, when we go through something like a devastating event, we don’t go into a period of reflection the way we used to,” Goeas, the president and CEO of the Tarrance Group, told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha.
Goeas invoked the Republican response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that occurred during the Clinton administration.
“The rhetoric towards [President] Bill Clinton, especially from the right, had gone to a very high-level. And I think when the Oklahoma bombing happened, [Republicans] took a step back,” Goeas said. “They mourned about what had happened, but they also reflected on what brought that kind of violence.”
“Today, as soon as an event happens, everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else,” he added. “So there’s really not the opportunity for the president to be the consoler in chief because everyone is looking [for] ‘Who do you blame? Whose fault is it? What have we not done that we should have done?'”
Numerous mass shootings and deadly natural disasters have taken place throughout President Trump’s administration.
Responses to mass shootings have largely fallen along partisan lines, with Republicans and gun rights activists often being quick to defend the rights of gun owners following the shootings, while Democrats have repeatedly called for more gun control.
— Julia Manchester
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