Donald Trump has been criticised for appearing to need notes reminding him to say “I hear you” during a White House listening session on mass shootings.
Pictures of the President’s cue card from the event last night reveal five talking points, the first four being questions and the last prompting him to show some empathy to survivors of the massacre.
Whilst written cues are standard practice for practically anyone in any type of meeting, the final point raised more than a few eyebrows.
Others saw nothing wrong with the note, suggesting it was necessary to avoid “even a minor misstep”.
Trump held an emotional, hour-long meeting with students who survived the Florida shooting earlier this month and a parent whose child did not.
He said arming teachers and other school staff could help prevent future mass shootings, voicing support for an idea backed by the National Rifle Association gun lobby, reports Reuters.
The Republican President, who has championed gun rights and was endorsed by the NRA during the 2016 campaign, said he would move quickly to tighten background checks for gun buyers and would consider raising the age for buying certain types of weapons.
The attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and educators were killed on 14 February, was the second-deadliest shooting at a US public school and has revived the long-running US debate over gun rights.
In Florida around the same time, a panel of students and teachers who survived the shooting, along with many parents of victims, voiced their frustrations and anger, along with their hopes for gun law reforms, during a town hall hosted by CNN.