--- title: Orlando Shooting: Read President Obama's Speech description: President Barack Obama called the shootings at an Orlando "an act of terror and an act of hate," after a gunman stormed Pulse nightclub. canonical: https://time.com/4365454/orlando-shooting-president-obama-speech-transcript/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-12T18:44:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:32:38.164Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Speech on the Orlando Nightclub Shootings og:description: "This was an act of terror and an act of hate" og:url: https://time.com/4365454/orlando-shooting-president-obama-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c08f400635bd861/69889763a988cacc9c6b8322/obama-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-OBAMA-CRIME-SHOOTING og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Speech on the Orlando Nightclub Shootings twitter:description: "This was an act of terror and an act of hate" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c08f400635bd861/69889763a988cacc9c6b8322/obama-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Speech on the Orlando Nightclub Shootings > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 12, 2016 6:44 PM UTC  President Barack Obama makes a statement on the mass shooting at an Orlando, Florida nightclub in the White House Briefing Room in Washington, DC on June 12, 2016. President Barack Obama makes a statement on the mass shooting at an Orlando, Florida nightclub in the White House Briefing Room in Washington, DC on June 12, 2016. YURI GRIPAS—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 12, 2016 6:44 PM UTC [President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4365421/orlando-shooting-barack-obama-terror-hate/) on Sunday called the [shootings at an Orlando nightclub](http://time.com/4365260/orlando-shooting-pulse-nightclub-what-know/?xid=homepage) “an act of terror and an act of hate,” after a gunman stormed Pulse Orlando, killing at least 50 people and injuring 53 others. Obama noted that the mass shooting in Orlando is the [worst](http://time.com/4365325/orlando-shooting-pulse-nightclub-deadliest-history/?xid=homepage) in American history and said the attack was a “reminder” of how easy it is for anyone to get their hands on a powerful weapon. 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