President Biden to travel to Lewiston, Maine
Traveling in the role of comforter-in-chief
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - At the invitation of Maine Governor Janet Mills, President Biden and the First Lady will travel to Lewiston, Maine to comfort the latest American city still dealing with the aftermath of a deadly mass shooting.
18 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a lone gunman opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar back on October 25th in Maine’s second-largest city.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree represents Maine’s 1st Congressional District.
“Well, we’re just so grateful to the president and the first lady for coming to visit our state. We still feel shattered. People are grieving. Funerals are just beginning for the 18 people who were lost and their families and their communities are really struggling, trying to put all the pieces together at this time.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the President will pay respects to the victims and grieve with families and community members still impacted by the deadliest mass shooting this year.
“Unfortunately, this type of trip by the president has become too too familiar. Far too familiar. Too many times, the president and the first lady have traveled to communities completely torn apart by gun violence. As the president said last week, this is not normal and we can’t accept it as normal.”
Maine is the latest state President Biden has had to visit in the wake of a mass shooting. Gun violence remains a pervasive problem across the country and the President has called this latest mass shooting in Maine “outrageous”. The president in September announced the creation of the federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Maine’s Senators Angus King (I) and Susan Collins (R) paid tribute to the victims in speeches on the Senate floor on October 31.
At the White House, I’m Jon Decker.
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