Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized the practice of offering only “thoughts and prayers” after shootings.
“So when I’m president of the United States, I’m taking a fight to this issue like folks will never see before because we’re better than this as a country. It’s a uniquely American problem. No other country has this kind of carnage. More people in my lifetime have died in this nation due to gun violence than in all of the wars in the Revolutionary War to now. We’re not going to give thoughts and prayers, which to me is just bullshit,” Booker said on David Axelrod’s podcast “The Axe Files.”
Part of the interview was aired Friday on CNN.
[Opinion: Actually, Cory Booker, ‘thoughts and prayers’ are the best we can do]
“And I’m sorry to say that as a man of faith, but I was taught faith without works is dead. We’re going to bring a fight with everything that I have to solve this problem. And because it’s solvable, and we know it,” he said.
Booker made his comments after unveiling his plan to implement more gun control to combat gun violence.
The plan includes:
- Federal gun licensing
- Handgun microstamping
- Universal background checks
- “Assault weapons” ban
- “High-capacity” magazine ban
- Bump stock ban
- Limiting gun buyers to one handgun per month
- “Finally, beginning on Day One in office, Cory will take executive action to build on ongoing efforts and take concrete steps forward — closing dangerous loopholes in gun sales, cracking down on unscrupulous dealers and gun manufacturers, and investing in communities impacted by gun violence,” a post from Booker’s campaign says on Medium.
