‘Fact Of Life’: Kamala Harris Campaign Targets Trump VP Pick JD Vance Over Comments On US

The Kamala Harris campaign on Thursday targeted Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance after he said school shootings in the US are a “fact of life” and argued the country needs to harden security to prevent more gun assaults.

Vance’s remarks came in the wake of the latest school shooting that left four people dead in the state of Georgia and reignited debate on gun violence in the US. In a statement attacking Donald Trump’s running mate, the Harris campaign said, “Yesterday, Vice President Harris said it doesn’t have to be this way in response to another senseless school shooting. Donald Trump and JD Vance think school shootings are a fact of life and we have to get over it.”

‘Got to deal with it’

Earlier, at a rally in Phoenix, Vance said, “If these psychos are going to go after our kids we’ve got to be prepared for it.” “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.” The Trump campaign defended Vance’s remarks, saying the statement made by the Republican Vice President nominee was misrepresented.

‘Fake News’

“Kamala’s interns just released a statement pushing FAKE NEWS that the Associated Press just retracted. Watch the full video and you’ll clearly see that JD Vance does not say what they claim he said. These morons do nothing but lie every single day,” the Trump campaign said, defending Vance on the key election issue ahead of November presidential polls. School shootings are a shockingly regular occurrence in the United States, where guns outnumber people and regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, has supported both stronger gun controls, such as banning sales of AR-15 and similar rifles, and better school security, like making sure classroom doors don’t lock from the outside as they did in Parkland.

‘I don’t like that’

The Ohio senator was asked by a journalist what can be done to stop school shootings. He said further restricting access to guns, as many Democrats advocate, won’t end them, noting they happen in states with both lax and strict gun laws. He touted efforts in Congress to give schools more money for security.

“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools. We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they’re not able.”

Vance said he doesn’t like the idea of his own kids going to a school with hardened security, “but that’s increasingly the reality that we live in.” He called the shooting in Georgia an “awful tragedy,” and said the families in Winder, Georgia, need prayers and sympathy.

(With agency inputs)