- President Donald Trump said that children who are afraid of going back to school after two mass shootings last weekend should "really study hard" and "someday you'll grow up and maybe be president of the United States, or do something else that's fantastic".
- "They have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about," Trump said, adding, "I think we have a very good system right now, but that doesn't mean that there's not going to be some crazy person. But that's what we want to do - we want to take the guns out of the hands of crazy, demented, sick people."
- The president's remarks came after the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, that left 31 dead and several injured.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that children who are afraid of going back to school in the wake of two mass shootings should "really study hard" and "someday you'll grow up and maybe be president of the United States, or do something else that's fantastic".
"They have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about," Trump added, in response to a question from a reporter before he left the White House to head to his golf club in New Jersey.
The president's comments came after two back-to-back mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, over the weekend. Thirty-one people were killed and several were injured.
Trump said on Friday that the White House was in "constant contact" with state governments and that "they are really doing a great job".
He also took a jab at former President Barack Obama, saying the current situation is "so much better than it was 2 1/2 years ago".
"I think we have a very good system right now," Trump said, "but that doesn't mean that there's not going to be some crazy person. But that's what we want to do - we want to take the guns out of the hands of crazy, demented, sick people".
Law-enforcement officials have not yet determined the motive behind the Dayton shooting. Authorities suspect that the El Paso shooter was fuelled by anti-immigrant rage after they discovered a racist manifesto he posted online shortly before carrying out the attack, in which he echoed much of the president's incendiary rhetoric toward immigrants.
There is no evidence that either of the suspects had a history of mental illness.
Receive a single WhatsApp every morning with all our latest news: click here.
Also from Business Insider South Africa:
- Huawei just introduced a new operating system - but current users won’t be able to change yet
- Three of Europe's biggest economies are probably in recession — and the ECB is totally out of bullets
- Meet the Hadids, the family of models who have been called 'the first family of fashion' and are worth more than R844 million combined
- An autonomous ‘SharkCam’ spied on basking sharks in the UK to reveal their secret shy lives
- Huawei may replace Android with its new operating system – here’s how South Africa will be affected
- Why a fiery phone call from Pravin Gordhan shows all hope is not lost for South Africa
- A security firm says it has discovered a flaw in WhatsApp that would allow hackers to alter your messages
- Crisis-hit Cell C owes MTN almost R400 million – and MTN is losing hope of getting the money back
- A top EU privacy regulator is looking into how millions of Instagram users' personal data was harvested by one of the company's partners
- Samsung ditched the controversial Bixby button for the Galaxy Note 10, but it also changed how you turn the phone off in the process
- Audi says its sleek new R30,000 electric scooter rides like 'surfing waves' on pavement
