New Orleans Congressman Rips Those Playing ‘Political Games’ After Deadly Terror Attack: The Victims ‘Deserve Better’
Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) slammed Republican leaders for playing “political games” following the deadly terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
Recently, President-elect Donald Trump blamed the attack on “criminals coming in” to the country while also claiming the “Fake News Media” ignored his warnings about border security. The suspect in the New Orleans attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was a US-born citizen from Texas and had previously served in the Army Reserve.
During Thursday’s interview on CNN, anchor Brianna Keilar asked Carter for his thoughts on Trump’s recent “open border” remarks. Carter, whose district covers greater New Orleans, noted that the victims of the attack “deserve better” and called on leaders to be “more mature.” Carter added:
Brianna, it’s unfortunate that both the president elect and Speaker Johnson has chosen to make this a partisan issue. This is an American attack. This is an attack on our democracy. This is an attack on our freedoms. This person was was radicalized, but it was an American citizen, a citizen of Texas, and someone who was honorably discharged from the United States Army. And we should not play games with the American people to try and imply that it was something that it wasn’t, which is somehow suggest that this was a Democrat or Republican issue. And we have to be a more mature and more direct and fair and honest with the American people. This is not the time to play political brinksmanship or gamesmanship.
This is a time that we should be united as Americans to push back against terrorism, push back against terrorist threats, and to demonstrate to the American people that we will use every resource that we have to combat these kind of hateful and heinous acts. No time for political games. Are I trickery to suggest somehow that one party or the other may be responsible? The families of the loved ones who have died and those who are in the hospital fighting for their lives, and our law enforcement agents from the federal, local and state deserve better. And I would call on all of our leadership to stand firm and recognizing that we are Americans and we are better than this.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
