Fox News Editor: 'No Question' Donald Trump 'Exploits Racial Animus' For Political Gain

Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt said during a panel discussion about the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that President Donald Trump is undoubtedly stoking racial divisions for his own political benefit.

Stirewalt, following a clip of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates accusing Trump of emboldening the El Paso gunman with his anti-immigrant rhetoric , said Trump does indeed exploit racial animus, noting the presidents attacks on several congressional Democrats as examples.

Look, the reality here is pretty clear: Theres no question the president exploits racial animus for his political advantage going into 2020, he told Fox News Shannon Bream on Mondays Special Report. He knows how to do it and he does it very effectively.

Fox's Chris Stirewalt says \"the reality here is pretty clear. There is no question the president exploits racial animus\".....and then he excuses Trump's racism, says it's a problem that can only be solved by \"individual Americans\" pic.twitter.com/yiC3kHG2T8

Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) August 5, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Andrew Lawrence","author_url":"https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence","cache_age":86400,"description":"Fox's Chris Stirewalt says \"the reality here is pretty clear. There is no question the president exploits racial animus\".....and then he excuses Trump's racism, says it's a problem that can only be solved by \"individual Americans\" pic.twitter.com/yiC3kHG2T8 Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) August 5, 2019\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":540,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1158515457990770688/pu/img/39qRxHWu8cjtRDFN.jpg","thumbnail_width":960,"title":"Andrew Lawrence on 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Fox's Chris Stirewalt says "the reality here is pretty clear. There is no question the president exploits racial animus".....and then he excuses Trump's racism, says it's a problem that can only be solved by "individual Americans" pic.twitter.com/yiC3kHG2T8
Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) August 5, 2019

Though Trump condemned white supremacy and bigotry in a speech from the White House on Monday, many Democrats have said he must do more, including toning down his own rhetoric and pushing for more substantial gun control legislation to be passed.

But Stirewalt suggested the president aint gonna fix the epidemic of gun violence and called on individual Americans to do so instead.

The truth here is this isnt about Donald Trump, Stirewalt said. Its not about the presidency. Its not about the federal government particularly. These are problems that have to be solved by individual Americans in their communities.

Our fixation, worship of or hatred of the presidency no president will fix this, he continued. Donald Trump aint gonna fix it. The reality is Americans together have to fix it themselves.

Bream went on to suggest the breakdown of the family and other cultural institutions as a factor contributing to the rise of mass shootings.

Several other countries have passed strict gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings on their soil. Weeks after a gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing dozens of people, the countrys Parliament voted to ban most semiautomatic and military-style weapons.

The U.S. has experienced dozens of mass shootings in recent years, yet Congress has passed little meaningful gun control legislation.

Trump during his speech Monday blamed mass shootings on video games, white supremacy and the internet. He cast little blame on guns or his own hateful rhetoric.