Huggers-in-chief:

[superbeets]

[h=1]Huggers-in-chief: Obama and Biden meet grieving families and pay tribute to the 49 Orlando victims saying 'our hearts are broken too'- before aggressively pushing for gun control[/h]

• Obama and Biden met this afternoon with Orlando officials and victims and survivors of the Pulse nightclub attack
• President wanted to show 'Americans stand shoulder to shoulder with Orlando', his spokesman said earlier today
• Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 at the Pulse gay nightclub in early hours of Sunday morning and wounded 53 more
• President Obama was criticized for not calling Florida Gov Rick Scott, who he embraced on the tarmac in Orlando
• Mayor Buddy Dyer was also there to present him with an 'Orlando United' t-shirt after he stepped off Air Force One
• Obama said he talked to families about gun control and 'they pleaded that we do more to stop' these mass killings

By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 18:31, 16 June 2016 | UPDATED: 22:33, 16 June 2016





President Barack Obama said today that Orlando was 'shaken by an evil, hateful act' as he and Vice President Joe Biden laid flowers flowers at a makeshift memorial this afternoon for victims of the Sunday shooting after the 'held and hugged' their families.
Carrying two bouquets of white roses, one flower for each of the 49 victims, a somber-looking Obama and a shades-wearing Biden, put the flowers underneath a red, white and blue wreath outside Orlando's Phillips Center, adjacent to City Hall, that was already surrounded by bunches of flowers and Mylar balloons in remembrance of the lives snuffed short in the tragedy.
'Their grief is beyond description,' Obama said this afternoon. 'These families could be our families. In fact, they are our family. They are part of the American family.'
The president said he told them, 'Our hearts are broken, too, and that we stand with you.'
Obama said he also talked to families about his belief that broader restrictions on firearms would make it harder for terrorists to commit future acts of mass violence, and 'they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage.'

 

[superbeets]

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President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden laid flowers flowers at a makeshift memorial this afternoon for victims of the Orlando shooting

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Standing next to his vice president, Barack Obama gave an impassioned speech in Orlando, four days after 49 clubgoers were gunned down in cold blood

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Earlier today, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer presented Obama with an 'Orlando United' t-shirt on the tarmac (also pictured, Florida's U.S. senators Bill Nelson, to Obama's right, and Marco Rubio)

 

[superbeets]

'They don't care about politics. Neither do I. Neither does Joe. And neither should any parent out there...This debate needs to change,' he said.
Stricter gun laws will not prevent every violent act, Obama said. Still, 'we can stop some tragedies. We can save some lives.'
'If we don't act, we will keep seeing more massacres like this because we will be choosing to allow them to happen.'
The Republican position 'defies common sense,' Obama said. 'Those who defend the easy accessibility of assault weapons should meet these families.'
They should also meet with the Newtown, Connecticut, families, he said, whose children would right now be finishing fifth grade had they not been brutally mowed down in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

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Obama and Biden visited a memorial in Orlando where thousands had left heartfelt notes and flowers to remember those killed on Sunday morning

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The president and vice president, somber expressions etched on both their faces, laid two bouquets of white roses, one flower for each of the 49 victims

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After laying flowers at the Orlando massacre memorial, Obama said Orlando had been 'shaken by an evil, hateful act'

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As the pair visited the memorial dedicated to the 49 people killed in Orlando, Republican Senator John McCain ccused Barack Obama of being 'directly responsible' for the massacre

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Obama told of how he and Biden 'held and hugged' the families whose loved ones were taken away by the senseless act on Sunday morning

 

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'Their grief is beyond description... These families could be our families. In fact, they are our family. They are part of the American family,' Obama said in his address at Orlando's Phillips Center

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Obama said he also talked to families about his belief that broader restrictions on firearms would make it harder for terrorists to commit future acts of mass violence

In a nod to Senate Democrats, who filibustered in the name of gun control legislation on Wednesday for 15 hours with Connecticut Chris Murphy at the helm, Obama said he hopes senators who opposed more aggressive background checks have a 'change of heart' and vote for similar legislation now.
As good as they [police] are, if you have lone wolf attacks like this, hatched in the minds of a disturbed person, then we're going to have to take different kinds of steps in order to prevent something like this from happening
Barack Obama


Obama said he was heartened to hear that the Senate would, however, take up legislation that would keep guns from being sold to suspected terrorists.
'I truly hope that senators rise to the moment and do the right thing,' he said.
That both of the last two terrorist attacks in the United States were committed by 'deranged individuals' who were radicalized by propaganda on the internet and used similar instruments of death, 'it's going to take more than just our military' or intelligence teams to defeat ISIS, Obama declared.
'As good as they are,' Obama said of U.S. authorities, 'if you have lone wolf attacks like this, hatched in the minds of a disturbed person, then we're gonna have to take different kinds of steps in order to prevent something like this from happening.'
The president and vice president are in Orlando today for meetings with local officials and families of the nightclub shooting victims, as well as survivors.
A senior spokesman for the president told reporters riding with the president on Air Force One earlier today the president wanted to personally demonstrate that 'Americans stand shoulder to shoulder' with residents of Orlando.
He was greeted on the tarmac by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who presented him with an 'Orlando United' t-shirt.
Obama will not deliver a speech before he flies back to Washington, the White House said today, but he will 'offer a few personal reflections'.

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President Barack Obama arrived in Orlando on Thursday for an afternoon of meetings with local officials and families of the tragedy's 49 victims. He's seen here hugging Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

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A somber looking Obama, who had come under criticism for not ringing Florida Gov. Rick Scott, in the wake of the attack, embraced Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs on the tarmac

 

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Obama (pictured hugging Jacobs) wanted to demonstrate that 'Americans stand shoulder to shoulder' with Orlando, his spokesman said

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Obama and Biden headed out of Orlando International Airport earlier today in the presidential motorcade to meet with the families of victims

'There's no more tangible way to show support than by traveling to the city where this horrific incident occurred,' Obama spokesman Eric Schultz said.
Accompanying him on the half-day trip is Vice President Joe Biden. Biden took his own plane down to Florida and brought Florida's Democratic Senator Bill Nelson as his guest.
There's no more tangible way to show support than by traveling to the city where this horrific incident occurred
Obama's spokesman, Eric Schultz


Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida and Florida's Republican Sen. Marco Rubio flew down with the president.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott - who Obama came under criticism for failing to call on Sunday - and Dyer were there to meet the president on the tarmac.
The president's schedule in Orlando has been in flux since the White House announced the trip on Monday given the short time frame in which it was put together.
The White House is working with Dyer on arrangements for today, which were constrained, it said, by the president's desire not to 'overtax local law enforcement officials' in the area.
Obama's first stop after the airport was Amway Center, home to the Orlando Magic, where he met with law enforcement officials and then had a private gathering with families and survivors of the terrorist attack.
The president and the vice president thanked the officers 'for their actions in responding to the attack at Pulse Nightclub,' the White House said in a statement.

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Obama (pictured meeting Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott) will spend the afternoon meeting with officials and families of the Orlando shooting victims

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Obama (pictured shaking hands with Republican Senator Marco Rubio) will not deliver a speech before he flies back to Washington, the White House said today

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Rubio (pictured shaking hands with Obama), a Republican, rode to Florida with the president on Air Force One

 

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The president's schedule in Orlando has been in flux since the White House announced the trip on Monday (pictured, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden)

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'There's no more tangible way to show support than by traveling to the city where this horrific incident occurred,' said Obama spokesman Eric Schultz

Amway Center arena is located two miles from the site of the Sunday shooting that devastated the Orlando area and has been certified by U.S. officials as a terrorist attack.
I think it's important for the President of the United States, on behalf of the country, to show his support for these families and for these individuals
White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest


The massacre at the gay nightclub had the highest death toll of any instance of gun violence in U.S. history and has likewise been deemed a hate crime in addition to home grown terrorism.
In total, 49 night club goers were maimed in the three-hour rampage early Sunday morning, and another 53 were wounded.
Shooter Omar Mateen, age 29, was killed in a bullet spray as he tried to exit the building through a hole in the wall of the night club created by police for survivors as an alternate escape.
The White House said Wednesday the president 'wants to offer his condolences and comfort to the families of those who were killed and to those who survived' during his meetings today.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest noted that news reports have highlighted a 'profound sense of survivor’s guilt that some people are expressing' that 'is painful just to read.'
'And I think it's important for the President of the United States, on behalf of the country, to show his support for these families and for these individuals.'
He also wants to thank first responders who put their own lives on the line for their 'demonstrations of professionalism and courage and patriotism.'

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After leaving the airport, Obama headed straught to the Amway Center, home to the Orlando Magic, where he met with law enforcement officials

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The president and vice president thanked the officers at the Amway Center for their heroic actions on the night of the Pulse nightclub attack

'So this will be I think an emotional trip,' Earnest observed.
Today the White House said the president would not deliver formal remarks about the incident, having already done so on three occasions in the past five days.
Earnest said Wednesday that he would, however, 'make clear that the country stands with the people of Orlando, stands with the LGBT community in Orlando as they grieve for their loss.'
'The President’s visit is about offering comfort and support to a community that's grieving,' the White House official said.
'And he’s going down there to make clear that he speaks for the country when he says that we're going to be with the people of Orlando, and we share in their grief, and that they're not alone even as they endure what surely have been several dark nights.'
Sunday afternoon Obama stood at the podium in the White House press briefing room and delivered a rare weekend statement in which he shared his condolences with residents of Orlando and updated the country on the FBI's investigation into the viscious assault.
'We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate,' he said. 'And as Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people.'
Obama said he talked to Orlando's mayor, Dyer, on the phone that morning.

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Obama's engagements today were muted because the president did not want not to 'overtax local law enforcement officials' in the area

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Obama also wanted to thank first responders who put their own lives on the line in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre

'This could have been any one of our communities,' the president recalled telling his friend.
The president said it was an 'especially heartbreaking day for all our friends -- our fellow Americans -- who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
'The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live,' Obama said, 'a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.'
Obama told the nation that 'in the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other.
'Instead, we will stand united, as Americans, to protect our people, and defend our nation, and to take action against those who threaten us.'

 

[superbeets]

All show & no sincerity.

 

[Dave007inVegas]

All show & no sincerity.

Never let an opportunity to have a photo opt and push your political agenda go to waste.

 

[SheriffJoe]

Islamists are shaking in their sandals while plotting their next "hate crime."

 

[busterhyman]

wonder if any of the families-wanted to talk to obuma about his muslim policy

 

[GasMan]

Wow, Liberals are such a fucked up and disgusting species of lunacy it is alarming.

Guess it's gonna take another 9/11 or a nuke for them to realize...even then they will blame Bush or Trump or someone else.

Good job Barack, well played...your plan is being executed to perfection.