President Trump to hold 'listening session' with survivors of Stoneman Douglas shooting
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump will hold a meeting this week with students and teachers who survived the deadly high school massacre in Parkland, Florida.
The White House declined to discuss which students would be invited to the so-called "listening session," only saying that Trump would also meet with local and state leaders, according to the Associated Press.
Several of the students who survived the shooting that left 17 of their classmates and faculty members dead have since emerged as some of the strongest and most compelling voices for change. Many of them have specifically directed criticism toward Trump and the Republican Party's politics surrounding gun control.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez continued her dayslong plea for progress in an impassioned address at a Saturday afternoon gun-control rally in nearby Fort Lauderdale.
Gonzalez pushed back against Trump and others who claim the uptick in gun violence is a direct result of a mental health crisis that can be solved by more robust public health programs.
"I am not a psychologist, but we need to pay attention to the fact that this isn't just a mental health issue. He wouldn't have harmed that many students with a knife," she said to applause.
In a Sunday morning television interview, Gonzalez cited Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Rick Scott by name in a warning to politicians who are supported by the National Rifle Association.
"Now is the time to get on the right side of this, because this is not something that we are going to let sweep under the carpet," she said on "Meet the Press."
