(Headline USA) For once in his tone-deaf and aggressively partisan presidency, Joe Biden actually managed to meet with grieving families in Uvalde, Texas, Sunday without turning it into another gun-grabbing tirade.
Not everyone embraced Biden’s visit, however, with some saying it has produced a “lot of outrage.”
“I think it depends on who you ask,” Stella Chavez, an immigration and demographics reporter for KERA News told CNN.
“I think, for the most part, the families who were affected want to focus on their loved ones who were killed,” Chavez said.
“And I think having the leader of our country come here and express, you know, his condolences is important to them. But I also know, I’ve heard people say, you know, now is not the time for him to come here.”
Biden met with the shattered community of Uvalde on Sunday, mourning privately for three hours with anguished families of the 19 schoolchildren and two teachers killed by a gunman. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: “We will.”
At Robb Elementary School, Biden visited a memorial of 21 white crosses — one for each of those killed — and first lady Jill Biden added a bouquet of white flowers to those already placed in front of the school sign. The couple then viewed individual altars erected in memory of each student, the first lady touching the children’s photos as they moved along the row.
After visiting the memorial, Biden attended Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where several victims’ families are members, and one of the families was in attendance.
Speaking directly to the children in the congregation, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller tried to assuage the fears of the youngsters, some appearing about the same age as the victims.
“You have seen the news, you have witnessed the tears of your parents, friends,” he said, encouraging them not to be afraid of life. “You are the best reminders to us that the lives of the little ones are important.”
As Biden departed church to meet privately with family members, a crowd of about 100 people began chanting “do something.” Biden answered, “We will,” as he got into his car. It was his only public comment during roughly seven hours in Uvalde.
Biden later tweeted that he grieves, prays and stands with the people of Uvalde. “And we are committed to turning this pain into action,” he said, because he is, at the bottom of his leftist heart, a political animal.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
