Following the latest San Bernardino shootings, presidential candidates started reactioning, either on social media or through different mediums. 14 people were shot on Wednesday, this being the deadliest shooting in the United States since December 2012, when 20 children and six adults were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.
If the majority of Democrats demanded a tightening of the gun law and put the blame on the U.S. culture, which even allows a lot of people to buy guns, Republicans approached the situation in a totally different way, talking of an entirely separate policy failure.
Are U.S. citizens in danger?
To be more specific, they rushed to describe the mass San Bernardino shootings as a sign that U.S. citizens are at risk for homegrown Islamic militants, according to Reuters. This comes in the context of numerous news reports claiming that the massacre was planned by religious extremists trying to warn that the country is under attack and not equipped in order to deal with a situation like this.
During the annual Republican Jewish Coalition conference, the candidates warned about a threat coming from Islamic State militants and pledged to take steps against the group, as stated by the same source. This is not the first time this issue is mentioned, as after the terrorist attacks from Paris, most election campaigns have changed, focusing a lot more on national security.
“There can be no doubt that this is an effort to destroy our very way of life,” said Republican John Kasich, the governor of Ohio.
“Every place in America is a target”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also has questioned America’s security after the San Bernardino shootings. “If a center for the mentally disabled in San Bernardino, California, can be a target for a terrorist attack, then every place in America is a target for a terrorist attack,” Christie said.”We need to come to grips with the idea that we are in the midst of the next world war.”
Currently, authorities are trying to determine if the couple implied in the shootings, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, was linked in any way to Islamic militant groups. The two were eventually killed after in a shootout with the police, right after the massacre.
Is President Obama to blame for this?
Another Republican who made a statement related to the San Bernardino shootings was Ted Cruz. The Texas senator accused President Barack Obama of failing to take steps to actually protect the United States, claiming that it’s time for a “war-time” president.
On the other side, the President said that he doesn’t ignore the scenario in which the shooting was the result of a workplace dispute.
Finally, Donald Trump was much more radical with his opinion, saying that the tragic events are related to what he calls “radical Islamic terrorism”, also blaming Barack Obama for refusing to use this term, states Reuters.
