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How Presidential Candidates Are Reacting To Mass Shooting At Gay Nightclub

Jermaine Towns, left, waits down the street from the scene of a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. Towns said his brother was hiding in a bathroom at the time. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/PHELAN M. EBENHACK
Jermaine Towns, left, waits down the street from the scene of a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. Towns said his brother was hiding in a bathroom at the time. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/PHELAN M. EBENHACK

Details are still emerging in the horrific mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Florida. By the number of dead and wounded, it is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. As details continue to emerge, lawmakers and presidential candidates are already starting to weigh in on Twitter.

In a statement, Clinton called the massacre “an act of terror,” and said “for now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home.”

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She also offered her support to the LGBT community — “This was also an act of hate. The gunman attacked an LGBT nightclub during Pride month. To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly, and without fear” — and gave a brief statement on gun control.

“We need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and it reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place in our streets.”

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, also commented on the tragedy. Although his first tweet contained only bare facts and no condolences, he later tweeted that he was “praying for all the victims and their families,” and then asked for “congrats” and said that if President Obama didn’t say “radical Islamic terrorism” in his response, he should “immediately resign in disgrace.” He also tweeted an unconfirmed allegation that the Orlando killer had shouted “allahu akbar” in Arabic during the massacre.

In his televised statement, Obama expressed solidarity with the LGBT community and said that the investigation is still ongoing, but that it was clearly an act of “terror and hate.”

In an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders called the massacre “horrific” and sent his hopes to the injured, before attacking the sale of automatic weapons and weak gun laws.

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“I believe that in this country, we should not be selling automatic weapons which are designed to kill people. We have got to do everything that we can on top of that to make sure that guns do not fall into the hands of people who should not have them, criminals, people who are mentally ill. So that struggles continues,” he said.

“I think that there is a very broad consensus in this country, not 100% of the people, overwhelming majority of gun owners and non-gun owners understand that we have got to do everything that we can to prevent guns from falling into the hands of people who should not have them. That means expanding the instant background check, it means doing away with the gun show loophole, it means addressing the straw man provision.”

Florida lawmakers also quickly responded. Senator Marco Rubio (R) and Governor Rick Scott (R), who is on his way to Orlando, also tweeted reactions. In a statement, Governor Scott said “our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and all those affected by this horrible tragedy.”

Democratic National Committee chair and Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted about the shooting as well:

Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) said in an interview that the suspect was a U.S. citizen and said that “more likely than not it was an ideologically motivated attack.”

“It’s no coincidence that the attack took place where it did and when it did,” he said.

President Obama was briefed on the shooting this morning by Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, according to a statement from the Press Secretary. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims,” the statement said, before adding that the President will be getting regular updates.

This post has been updated to include further reactions to the shooting.