Press secretary Sarah Sanders held the first White House press briefing in a week Tuesday and answered questions about the president's response to both the school shooting in Florida and the indictment of Russian nationals by special counsel Robert Mueller's team.
She said President Donald Trump expressed interest in improving the federal gun background check system and was also focused on mental health. She also addressed a tweet over the weekend in which Trump seemed to say the Russia investigation was a distraction to the FBI and a reason it failed to look into warnings about the Florida shooter.
"The cause of this is that of a deranged individual who made the decision to take the lives of 17 other people. That is the responsibility of the shooter, certainly not the responsibility of anybody else," she said.
When asked about the president's position on concealed carry reciprocity or an assault rifle ban, she declined to answer.
When asked why Trump hasn't hasn't implemented a Russia sanctions bill that passed Congress, Sanders said this:
"Look, frankly, that's not completely accurate."
She also said Trump has been tougher on Russia than former President Barack Obama ever was. Based on a review by PolitiFact, that's incorrect. Specifically, PolitiFact rated a Monday tweet from Trump saying he has been "much tougher on Russia than Obama" as "Mostly False."
