US President Donald Trump on Monday said that “hate has no place” in America, after two mass shootings that were carried out in Texas and Ohio.
Trump addressed reporters before boarding the Air Force One to return to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Trump was accompanied by his wife and First Lady Melania and said that “Hate has no place in our country, and we’re going to take care of it.”
He said that “mental problems” had contributed to the shootings and went on to congratulate law enforcement agencies in Texas and Ohio for their quick responses to the two incidents.
“As bad as it was, it could have been so much worse,” Trump said. “We have to get it stopped. This has been going on for years.”
Trump had earlier condemned the shooting on Twitter on Saturday by calling it “an act of cowardice” and a “hateful act”.
US authorities have said that said on Sunday that they are treating their investigation in El Paso massacre as “domestic terrorism” and a “hate crime”.
At least 20 people were killed and more than two dozen people were injured in a mass shooting at the Walmart store in the US city of El Paso.
Just hours after, at least nine people were killed and many injured in shooting at Ned Peppers Bar in Dayton Ohio on Sunday.
The motive for the mass shootings has yet not been determined by the investigators.
(With agency inputs)