Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), without explicitly naming him, seemed to point the finger at President Donald Trump after two deadly mass shootings occurred in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH, over the weekend.
In a series of tweets, Jones said, “I am at a loss for words as we mourn the victims of these two horrific crimes, but one thing is clear… our government is failing in the most basic responsibility it has to the people of this country: to keep them safe.”
“Most folks will, again, instinctively go to their corners and talk about guns, which is clearly a discussion that needs to continue, but this failure is more than about guns,” Alabama’s junior senator continued.
He then forcefully decried “the tone that has been set in this country” and divisive political rhetoric by America’s “leaders.”
“Our failure to protect people is more pronounced today given the early reports of racial motivations behind the shooting in El Paso,” Jones lamented. “Unfortunately that seems to be the tone that has been set in this country.”
“We must come together and reject political rhetoric, or any kind of rhetoric for that matter, that divides us and stokes this kind of hatred. Our leaders need to set a positive example that others can follow,” he concluded. “That my friends is something we can do now.”
Jones’ maiden speech on the U.S. Senate floor after being elected was about gun control. He has previously called Trump “the offender in chief.”
“[H]e’s really divided this country a lot,” Jones has said of Trump.
