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Internet users are fuming after US President Joe Biden joked about ice cream in his first address to the nation since the elementary school shooting in Nashville that occurred just hours earlier on Monday, March 27, 2023.
The ill-timed speech was given at an East Room gathering of women-owned businesses.
In his statement, he joked that he only "showed up" to the White House event because he heard there would be ice cream. He then proceeded to talk about the horrific shooting that left three children and three staff members dead. He quipped:
"And I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs. You think I’m kidding? I’m not."
The 76-year-old's mood then turned somber when he addressed the shooting that took place at Covenant School, calling it "sick" and a "family's worst nightmare." Biden then demanded gun control laws.
As snippets of the speech went viral, netizens were enraged at the shallow response.
"This is our president?": Internet users slam President Biden for mocking the Nashville victims
Netizens were appalled at Biden's insensitive statement following the Nashville elementary school shooting. They called him evil and pathetic for making a mockery of those who died.
While many remarked that the speech was highly inappropriate, some pointed out that the people heard applauding and laughing at the jokes were equally "sick" and "insensitive."
User @StarrAli001, stated:
Twitterati demanded that Biden get his priorities right and realize that the situation did not call for jokes. User @Juniorm0331 sarcastically remarked:
Whereas @IVB**tardia, remarked:
However, some netizens came to the defense of President Biden, stating that people are ignoring the "context" in which the remarks were made.
But these were immediately shut down by others who explained that the jokes were made despite knowing that the shooting had occurred, which made it worse.
Here are some comments seen on Twitter reacting to the speech:
More on the Nashville school shooting
The horrific shooting occurred at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning at around 10 am. It was carried out by a former student at the school, Audrey Hale.
The 28-year-old was carrying three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle, and fired through one of the doors of the school. She fatally shot six people, including three children who were under the age of nine. Additionally, three adults too, were killed.
Hale was shot dead by the authorities, who responded within minutes.
According to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, this incident was the 129th mass shooting that happened in 2023.
