August 4, 2019

Democratic Presidential Candidates Are Reacting to a Weekend of Mass Shootings. They’re Not Mincing Words.

“Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is—he is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country.”

CNN

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On Sunday morning, Democratic presidential hopefuls responded to a grisly weekend of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Many spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that President Trump was responsible for fueling racist acts of violence and for not encouraging common-sense gun policy.

Minutes before the shooting in El Paso, a predominantly Latino city, suspected gunman Patrick Crusius allegedly posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online warning of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas” and detailing a plan to separate America into territories by race.

Asked by Tapper if he thinks Trump is a white nationalist, El Paso native Beto O’Rourke said, “Yes, I do.” He went on, “Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is. He is an open, avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country—and this is incredibly dangerous for the United States of America right now.”

Tapper went on to speak with Democratic candidates Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris, Julián Castro, Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Here’s what they had to say:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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