President Obama found himself in an uncomfortably familiar position after the Orlando shooting.
Standing at the podium in the White House Press Briefing room — named after James Brady, who was left permanently disabled by a gunshot intended for President Ronald Reagan — Obama yet again addressed the nation in the aftermath of a fatal gun tragedy.
The Sunday shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub left 49 dead and 53 wounded in what has become the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The president has delivered such remarks more than a dozen times throughout his presidency — including shootings at Fort Hood, Aurora, Colo., Sandy Hook, Charleston and San Bernardino peppering his two terms in office. At times he has been reflective, other times he has been heartbroken, but more recently the president has expressed frustration at the repeated instances of gun violence on American soil.
“Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it,” Obama said after the shooting in Roseburg, Or. in October. “We’ve become numb to this.”
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