Ivanka On Arming Teachers: ‘Don’t Know’ If It’s Solution, But ‘Needs To Be Discussed’

Advisor to US President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, is seen during a working session regarding opportunity zones following the recently signed tax bill in the Oval Office of the White House on February 14, 2018 in Wa... Advisor to US President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, is seen during a working session regarding opportunity zones following the recently signed tax bill in the Oval Office of the White House on February 14, 2018 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

While in South Korea representing the U.S. delegation to the Olympics Sunday, White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump suggested to NBC News that she isn’t entirely sold on arming teachers, but said it’s a topic that “needs to be discussed.”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” she said, responding to a question about whether training teachers to carry concealed weapons would make students safer. “Obviously there would have to be an incredibly high standard for who would be able to bear arms in our school, but I think there is no one solution to creating safety.”

Ivanka Trump then dodged a question about whether she advises her father on this topic and rather said it wasn’t necessarily a “bad idea” to arm “qualified” school staff.

I think that having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but it is an idea that needs to be discussed,” she said.

In response to shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead, President Donald Trump has seized on the idea of arming 10 to 40 percent of teachers and school staff members who are “adept” at using weapons or who have a military background. During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, he claimed that teachers “love” their students more than security guards do, and would likely be more willing to use a weapon to defend them.

Surveillance footage revealed last week that during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, an armed security guard and several deputies waited outside the school or took cover after the shooting started. One guard later resigned.

In addition to suggesting that some teachers should be armed, President Trump has also proposed increasing the age limit from 18 to 21-years-old for purchasing a rifle, which the National Rifle Association opposes.

He’s also said he wants background checks for gun purchases to undergo comprehensive reform, so factors like a person’s mental health history are included in the check.

Watch a clip of the NBC News interview with Ivanka Trump below:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. No, actually, it does not need to be discussed. It is a transparently stupid idea. End of discussion.

  2. We should listen to Ivanka … she’s one of America’s great thought leaders. /s

  3. Avatar for docd docd says:

    You have to love an article where the story is someone saying “I dunno.”
    I realize that the focus is her supporting his idea through “it needs to be discussed,” but why are we even asking her opinion?

  4. Well, now we know what it sounds like to hear an enabler talk about an idiot.

  5. How. Much. Longer?
    The Voice… The Vapid… The Vacant…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

80 more replies

Participants

Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for fgs Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for sysprog Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for radicalcentrist Avatar for leftflank Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for danny Avatar for lastroth Avatar for stradivarius50t3 Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for karlsgems Avatar for dickweed Avatar for benthere Avatar for jm_tpm Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for jucevic Avatar for an_american Avatar for rickjones Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for bashful Avatar for drtv

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: