The day after a series of co-ordinated attacks killed upwards of 129 people in Paris, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waded into the tragedy offering his opinions on the massacre and using the spotlight to highlight his policies on refugees and gun control.
“When you look at Paris, the toughest gun laws in the world, nobody had guns but the bad guys,” he said at a campaign event in Beaumont, Texas.
“I’ll tell you what. You can say what you want, but if they had guns, if our people had guns, they were allowed to carry, it would’ve been a much, much different situation” Trump said to cheers.
Trump also linked the attacks to his policy on refugees saying it would be “insane” for the U.S. to take in Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn country.
The response to Trump’s comments was immediate with many on social media criticizing the billionaire politician’s speech, saying he was using the tragedy for his own gain.
Trump also received criticism back in January in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre for Tweets that expressed a similar sentiment.
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