Calling it "completely shameful" for President Barack Obama to talk gun control in the immediate aftermath of the Charleston, S.C., shooting that left nine churchgoers dead, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said now is the time to bring Americans together.
"Within 24 hours, we have the president trying to score cheap political points," Jindal said Thursday on Fox News Channel's
"Your World with Neil Cavuto."
"Now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear: at some point we, as a country, will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," Obama said in
remarks from the White House earlier Thursday.
Obama pushed gun control legislation following the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in December 2012, but the bill failed to pass Congress. With both chambers now controlled by Republicans and his second term winding down, he is unlikely to try again.
Jindal, a Republican who is expected to announce a run for president next week, said Obama should wait a while to debate gun laws.
"His job as commander in chief is to help the country to begin the healing process," he said. "Now is the time to be hugging these families. This is the time to come together."
Obama should have eschewed politics for a day, Jindal said, urged people to attend church and not be cowed by the shooting that reportedly was racially motivated.
"The president … could have said … we're not Democrats, we're not Republicans, independents, blacks, whites. We're Americans, and we all need to worship together," Jindal said.
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