Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, bolted from an interview at a vigil for victims of the Texas elementary school massacre Wednesday after being asked why mass shootings "only happen in your country."
A gunman using an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle killed 19 students and two teachers Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, on Wednesday joined hundreds of tearful relatives and friends mourning loved ones killed in the massacre, the worst school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012.
A Sky News reporter interviewing Cruz asked if now was the time to reform gun laws, and added that "many people around the world" wanted to know "why only in America” do such shootings seem to happen.
"Why is this American exceptionalism so awful?" reporter Mark Stone asked Cruz.
"You know, I'm sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful," Cruz said. "You know what? You've got your political agenda. God love you."
Stone and another reporter followed Cruz and continued to ask why mass shootings were "just an American problem?"
After the Sky News reporter repeatedly told Cruz, "You can’t answer that," the senator turned and said: "Why is it that people come from all over the world to America? Because it's the freest, most prosperous, safest country on Earth. And save me the propaganda."
Before initially storming away from the interview, Cruz told Stone that Democrats' gun control proposals would not have prevented suspect Salvador Ramos from attacking the elementary school.
"It's easy to go to politics," Cruz told Sky News. "I get it's where the media wants to go.
"The proposals from Democrats and the media inevitably, when some violent psychopath murders people … if you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the Democrats have — none of them would have stopped this."
Gunfire at U.S. schools is at a record high, with a gun being discharged on a school property almost every day this year, according to David Riedman, a researcher who tracks such incidents.
Ramos legally purchased two assault rifles and ammunition just days after turning 18.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Ramos, the day after his birthday, bought one of the rifles from a federally licensed gun store. The next day he purchased 375 rounds of ammunition, and then two days later he bought his second rifle.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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