Donald Trump Said ‘We Have to Get Over It’ About School Shooting in Perry, Iowa, in January 2024?
An account on X posted a video of a remark that the former president had made during a speech in Iowa.
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.”
Donald Trump appeared to ad lib this remark while delivering a prepared statement during a presidential campaign speech 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 Jan. 5, 2024, the X account @BidenHQ – one that CNN once dubbed as U.S. President Joe Biden’s “rapid response account” for his campaign’s reelection – posted a video of former U.S. President Donald Trump with the caption, “Trump on Iowa’s deadly school shooting yesterday: It’s horrible but we have to get over it.”
Trump on Iowa’s deadly school shooting yesterday: It’s horrible but we have to get over it pic.twitter.com/8izgCBxcAl
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 5, 2024
We rate this as correct attribution.
The post referenced a school shooting on Jan. 4 at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. According to The Associated Press, the shooting left one sixth-grader dead and six other staffers and students injured. The shooter also reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Trump’s delivered his remarks heard in the video 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.
*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.”
