Parkland student: Trump ‘does care about stopping school violence’

A student survivor of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting last month credited President Trump on Saturday with being focused on ending school violence.

“I really think that he does care about stopping school violence [by signing] the Stop the School Violence Act into law,” Kyle Kashuv, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, said on Fox News.

“You have to respect the presidency to get stuff done and the president understood that the way they were going about it was wrong,” Kashuv added about his fellow students who are calling for stricter gun measures.

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A number of Marjory Stoneman Douglas students spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that drew hundreds of thousands of people. The students called for lawmakers to pass stricter gun measures to curb violence at schools. 

Kashuv said he wasn’t invited to speak at the “March for Our Lives” rally, despite him being in favor of gun reform.

He also criticized his fellow student David Hogg, who has become an outspoken advocate for gun control, for ending a call with the White House looking to invite him to an event on curbing violence in schools. Kashuv called the move “dumb and immature.”

“It paints a bad light on our entire generation,” he said.

Kashuv said that he spoke with people at Saturday’s rally and found that they don’t understand what they are marching for, pointing to the group’s website.

“They think they are marching to end school violence but in reality, the ‘March for Our Lives’ website has it listed that they want to ban assault rifles,” Kashuv said.

“If you don’t know what you are marching for, that is an issue.”

The White House released a statement earlier Saturday applauding students for “exercising their First Amendment rights” while underscoring a number of steps Trump has taken on school safety following the Parkland shooting.

Kashuv visited the White House earlier this month to speak with first lady Melania Trump about an app he is building that lets students reach out to one another when they are in need of help.

Kashuv also reportedly met with a handful of lawmakers, including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Vice President Pence, to discuss gun reform.