Biden mistakes locations of mass shootings before correcting himself later, report says
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Former Vice President Joe Biden reportedly misstated the locations of the two mass shootings that occurred over the weekend before correcting himself in his remarks later during a fundraiser near San Diego on Sunday.
The 2020 presidential candidate referred to the “tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before” when speaking at the home of businessman Mark Arabo, the Hill reported, citing a pool report from the event.
But Biden later corrected himself, noting that the shootings occurred in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the report said.
“The American people may be running out of tears, but I pray to God we’re not running out of will. A will to do something about what we’re seeing," Biden said, according to the Hill. "You know, we don’t need any more thoughts and prayers out of Washington. What we need out of Washington is a strength and resolve that I have yet to see.”
“There are escalating acts that are occurring not of madness but of absolute, absolute hatred, and we have to call that hatred out and confront it," he said.
President Donald Trump during a speech on Monday also misstated the location of one of the mass shootings, referring to Toledo, Ohio instead of Dayton.
"May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo, may God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio. May God bless the victims and their families," Trump said from the White House.
Trump's flub was quickly slammed by Tim Ryan, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful and Ohio congressman, who tweeted a short and profane message about the president jumbling the two cities in his home state.
The two shootings were less than 24 hours apart.
Two more victims of the mass shooting at a crowded Walmart in El Paso, Texas, died Monday at a hospital, raising the death toll for the attack to 22.
In Dayton, a gunman killed nine people, including his sister, in a weekend shooting rampage in a popular nightlife area.
Trump also suggested that Republicans and Democrats should come together for strong background checks, in two tweets early Monday morning.,
“We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded. We can never forget them, and those many who came before them. Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying....” he tweeted.
The Associated Press and Fox News contributed to this report.