Yes, Trump Said ‘Get Over It’ After a School Shooting

Joe Biden inserted the word “just” during his speech, but the callous Trump quote he cited in the State of the Union was mostly accurate.

During his State of the Union address on Thursday night, President Joe Biden laced into Donald Trump, criticizing him directly more than a dozen times (though he referred to Trump as “my predecessor” rather than using his name). At one point, Biden accused Trump of responding to a deadly school shooting this year by saying people should just “get over it.” It’s such an appalling comment that Biden’s quote seems almost unbelievable — but it was mostly accurate.

While laying out his agenda on curbing gun violence, Biden accused Trump of bragging about his inaction on the issue and even shrugging off another shooting.

“My predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was president. Oof,” Biden said. “After another shooting in Iowa recently, he said, when asked what to do about it, he said, ‘Just get over it.’ There’s his quote, ‘Just get over it.’ I say, stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it.”

Biden on Trump: "After another shooting in Iowa recently he said, when asked to do about it, 'just get over it.' I say stop it." pic.twitter.com/K0C1iMl34Q

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 8, 2024

Biden inserted the word just into the Trump quote, but the former president did make both of these comments recently.

While addressing the National Rifle Association on February 9, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump bragged about his inaction on guns.

“During my four years, nothing happened!” he said. “And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield. And once you yield a little bit, that’s just the beginning. That’s [when] the avalanche begins.”

Trump: During my four years, I did nothing on guns pic.twitter.com/SYrBIpbXE7

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 9, 2024

And this is what Trump said in Sioux Center, Iowa, on January 5, a day after a shooting at a nearby high school killed Ahmir Jolliff, an 11-year-old middle-school student, and principal Dan Marburger, who died ten days later. (Four other students and two staffers were injured.)

“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,” Trump said. “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it, we have to move forward.”

The prepared text of Biden’s speech released by the White House accurately quotes Trump as saying people should “get over it.” Biden’s emphasis made it sound like Trump said “just get over it,” then he repeated the quote with “just” inserted as an ad-lib.

With us tonight is Jasmine, whose 9-year-old sister Jackie was murdered with 21 classmates and teachers at her elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 

Soon after it happened, Jill and I went to Uvalde and spent hours with the families. 

We heard their message, and so should everyone in this chamber do something. 

I did do something by establishing the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the White House that Vice-President Harris is leading. 

Meanwhile, my predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was President. 

After another school shooting in Iowa, he said we should just “get over it.” 

I say we must stop it.  

I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun-safety law in nearly 30 years! 

Now we must beat the NRA again! 

I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines! 

Pass universal background checks! 

None of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners. 

Trump’s quote on the Perry school shooting was part of a flurry of bizarre remarks he made while campaigning in Iowa ahead of the Republican caucus in early January. That same weekend, he glorified the January 6 insurrectionists; mocked Biden’s stutter and the injuries John McCain sustained as a prisoner of war in Vietnam; claimed the Civil War could have been “negotiated;” bragged about his ability to put on pants; and claimed magnets don’t work underwater.

In context, it’s clear Trump was attempting to express his sympathies to the victims of the Perry shooting. But Biden wasn’t lying; Trump did make the callous comment “but we have to get over it” in Iowa, and just a month later he bragged that he “did nothing” on guns.