Donald Trump walked hand in hand with first lady Melania Trump alongside vice president Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence Monday afternoon to lead a moment of silence at the White House in honor of the dead and injured in the deadliest shooting in U.S. modern history in Las Vegas Sunday night.
Earlier on Monday, Trump called the attack “an act of pure evil” and said that we “cannot fathom their pain or imagine their loss.”
Trump championed the police and first responders for their “true professionalism” in attending to the victims and locating the shooter, and said that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday (he already has a trip to Puerto Rico on Tuesday).
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“To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward,” he said. In his six-minute speech, the president did not mention the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, by name. He also ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast.
“In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one, and it always has. We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity,” Trump went on.
“Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence, and though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today, and always will. Forever,” he said.