Morristown Municipal Airport
Morristown, New Jersey
4:32 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I want to extend our condolences to the people of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. They’re incredible people and they’ve been through a lot.
I just want to also thank the law enforcement in both places. The job they’ve done is incredible. I also want to congratulate them. I mean, nobody could have done what they’ve done. This could have been — as bad as it was, it could have been so much worse.
I just have to thank them. The job they’ve done is incredible. And they were right on the ball in El Paso; they were there so quickly. And, in Dayton, in less than a minute — think of the damage he did in just a short period of time — in less than a minute, the law enforcement acted and killed him. And it would have been unbelievable. It was — it would have been — it was horrible, but it would have been so much worse. It could have been so much worse.
I just want to say that these are two incredible places. We love the people. Hate has no place in our country. And we’re going to take care of it.
I spoke with Attorney General Bill Barr at length; I spoke to Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI; I spoke to the governors — both governors — and we’re doing a lot of work. A lot of people are working right now — a lot of law enforcement people and others. I spoke to members of Congress about whatever we can do and a lot of — a lot of things are being done right now, as we speak.
I’ll be making a statement tomorrow sometime. But just on behalf of our First Lady and myself, condolences to all. We have to get it stopped. This has been going on for years — for years and years — in our country. And we have to get it stopped.
So thank you very much. And I will be making a statement tomorrow at about 10 o’clock. And I’ll see you there. Thank you all very much.
Q What are you going to do about the problem of automatic and semiauto- —
THE PRESIDENT: You have to talk up.
Q The gun problem. What are you going to do about it? What — how are you going to address it?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re talking to a lot of people, and a lot of things are in the works, and a lot of good things. And we have done much more than most administrations. And it does — it’s not — really not talked about very much, but we’ve done, actually, a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.
But this is also a mental illness problem. If you look at both of these cases, this is mental illness. These are peop- — really, people that are very, very seriously mentally ill. So a lot of things are happening. A lot of things are happening right now.
And I will see you tomorrow at 10 o’clock. Thank you.
END
4:35 P.M. EDT
