President Donald Trump spoke of guns and violence as children surrounded him at an Oval Office signing ceremony.
The president, moments after The Daily Signal's Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell mentioned a recent interview where he suggested that arming the Iranian people could help them "fight back" against their country's regime, declined to say whether the U.S. would arm them soon, before turning to their lack of guns.
"So you could have 200,000 people protesting and have five or six people with guns," Trump said. "And when they start shooting them right between the eyes and you see a guy fall and another fall and you have no guns —."
As Trump painted graphic imagery to reporters in the Oval Office, several kids — none of whom appeared old enough to attend an R-rated movie alone — stood around him at the Resolute desk. The youngsters stood by the commander-in-chief for a photo-op as he signed an executive order to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test to public schools.
Trump marched on with his violent talk, repeating an unfounded claim that Iranian officials have killed "42,000" unarmed people who protested the regime last month.
"So they had a 250,000-people crowd and they had snipers, they had like four or five snipers in buildings up high," the president said. "And you're standing there and all of a sudden the guy on your left goes down... They had 200,000 women protesting a year ago and everyone thought that was the end of Iran. And then all of a sudden, a woman dropped dead with a bullet right there," continued Trump while pointing at the center of his forehead to signal a bullet entry point. "Then another woman dropped and then the word started to spread and then there was panic and then they ran. So I don't want that to happen."
Social media users expressed their disgust with Trump — who also spoke of ending wars and "lunatics" having nuclear weapons at the signing ceremony — over his language in front of the youth, with one critic calling it "completely irresponsible" of him.
Many parents and observers condemned the president's graphic descriptions, noting that the children present were likely traumatized. One user tweeted, "If I were the mother of one of these children, I'd be running out the door w/my child! This is NOT appropriate dialogue to be having in front of KIDS!" Another commenter wrote, "Perhaps one of the MOST INAPPROPRIATE things we've ever seen him do. This INSANITY was in front of LITTLE CHILDREN- some probably as young as 6 or 7 years old."
The incident has sparked a broader debate about the appropriateness of discussing violent topics in front of minors, especially by the nation's highest officeholder.
