Biden says Trump has ‘no intestinal fortitude’ to deal with gun violence in aftermath of Texas shooting

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that President Trump has “no intestinal fortitude” to deal with gun violence in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Odessa, Texas, over the weekend.

“I’ve seen nothing. The president has no intestinal fortitude to deal with this,” Biden told reporters while a Labor Day picnic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “He knows better. His instinct was to say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do something on background checks.’ What’s he doing? Come on. This is disgraceful. This is disgraceful what’s happening.”

Biden added that he sees “no compromise” with Republicans in Washington and “no possible solution to the gun issue until next fall.”

“None on this,” he said. “This is one we have to just push, push and push. And the fact of the matter is I think it’s going to result in seeing some of them defeated.”{mosads}

Biden’s comments came after a deadly mass shooting in West Texas that left at least seven people dead and 22 people injured, reigniting the gun control debate.

Other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) — who became one of his party’s loudest and most sustained voices on the issue after a mass shooting killed 22 in his home town of El Paso, Texas — have reiterated support for stronger gun control measures and frustration with what they see as a lack of action.

President Trump, who showed support for stronger background checks in the wake of the El Paso shooting but later backed off the issue, said Sunday that “we’re looking at the same things. … It really hasn’t changed anything.”

The House Judiciary Committee announced Friday that it is postponing a planned early return from recess to consider gun reform legislation due to Hurricane Dorian hindering lawmaker travel. The committee had planned to mark up bills to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines and prevent people who are convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes or considered high-risk from having guns.