Fact Check: 'We Have to Get Over It': Trump's Past Words About Iowa School Shooting Highlighted by Biden

Jordan Liles

19 June 2024 at 0:09 pm·4-min read

President Joe Biden posted on X in June 2024 a remark once made by former President Donald Trump, in which Trump said of a deadly school shooting in Perry, Iowa, the words we have to get over it. — Getty Images

Claim:

On Jan. 5, 2024, during a presidential campaign speech delivered in Sioux Center, Iowa, former U.S. President Donald Trump said of the previous day's school shooting in Perry, Iowa, "We have to get over it."

Rating:

Context:

Trump appeared to ad lib this remark while delivering a prepared statement that included expressing his "support" and "deepest sympathies" for the victims and their families. His complete remarks about the shooting have been transcribed in the story below.

On June 17, 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted a past remark made by former President Donald Trump. Biden posted on X, "After a school shooting in Iowa that killed a student and a teacher, Donald Trump said we have to 'get over it.' Hell no, we don't have to get over it. We have to stop it."

Biden's post referenced a school shooting on Jan. 4, 2024, at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. According to The Associated Press, the shooter killed 11-year-old sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and principal Dan Murburger dead, and wounded six other staffers and students. The shooter died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Trump delivered the referenced remarks during a 2024 presidential campaign speech at Terrace View Event Center in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Upon a review of his full comments, we found that he had called the shooting "terrible" four different times and had said the words, "We have to get over it." The moment appeared to be an ad lib that followed the reading of a prepared statement, in which he expressed his "deepest sympathies" to the victims and their families.

We transcribed Trump's complete remarks to the rally crowd:

Before going further, I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa. To the entire community: We love you, we pray for you and we ask God to heal and comfort really the whole state and the pain that you have. This is something that's very unique to your state. We're really with you, as much as anybody can be. It's a very terrible thing that happened. And it's just terrible to see that happening. It's just terrible. So surprising to see it here. But, we have to get over it. We have to move forward. We have to move forward. But, to the relatives and to all of the people that are so devastated right now, to a point they can't breathe, they can't live, we are with you all the way. We're with you and we love you and cherish you.

We previously reached out to the Trump campaign to ask about the fact that the Biden campaign highlighted the moment in a post but did not receive a response.

Note: Trump's full comments about the school shooting can also be watched in this live YouTube video from Right Side Broadcasting Network. The remarks pertinent to the shooting begin when the clock in the lower-right corner displays "5:37 PM ET."

Sources:

"Donald Trump Campaigns in Sioux Center after Perry School Shooting." The Des Moines Register, 5 Jan. 2024, https://www.desmoinesregister.com/picture-gallery/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2024/01/05/donald-trump-campaigns-in-sioux-center-after-perry-school-shooting/72125776007/.

Elizabeth Wolfe, et al. "Iowa School Shooter Is Believed to Have Posted an Ominous TikTok Video before Killing a 6th Grader and Wounding 7 People." CNN, 5 Jan. 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/us/perry-iowa-school-shooting-friday/index.html.

"LIVE: Trump to Speak at IA Commit to Caucus Rallies in Sioux Center and Mason City- 1/5/24." YouTube, Right Side Broadcasting Network, 5 Jan. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqJUo1OmRpA.

McFetridge, Scott. "Iowa Principal Critically Injured in School Shooting Risked Himself to Protect Students, Police Say." The Associated Press, 5 Jan. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/perry-high-school-shooting-iowa-5346218f2646bec796ba28928a00c745.

McFetridge, Scott, and Trisha Ahmed. "Iowa Principal Who Risked His Life to Protect Students during a High School Shooting Has Died." The Associated Press, 14 Jan. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/perry-high-school-shooting-iowa-principal-dies-5c3d9d122dac634a2dbd7be187913fc7.

Tausche, Kayla, et al. "White House Strikes Business-as-Usual Tone after McCarthy's Ouster as Biden Campaign Highlights GOP Disarray | CNN Politics." CNN, 4 Oct. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/04/politics/white-house-house-gop-drama/index.html.

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