‘This was a school problem’: Trump blames Brown University for the shooting, claims reporters should ask questions to the school, not him or the FBI
After the Brown University mass shooting left two students dead and nine injured, Trump has found a familiar escape hatch. When pressed on why the shooter still hasn’t been identified, Trump waved all responsibility away, calling it a “school problem.”
While speaking to reporters after the Mexican Border Defense Medal Presentation on Dec. 15, Trump was asked about the stalled Brown University shooting investigation. With the previously detained “person of interest” released, reporters asked why the FBI has struggled to identify the shooter. But Trump insisted reporters take their questions elsewhere.
The president’s first response was his signature boilerplate vagueness. “That’s moving along now,” he said when asked about motive. He added, “ We’re going to see what happens. Hopefully, they’re going to capture this animal.” But the reporter pressed again, this time about whether FBI Director Kash Patel had explained the delays.
“Has Kash Patel told you why it’s been so difficult for the FBI to identify who the shooter is?” they asked. And that’s when Trump drew a line between himself and accountability. “Well, it’s always difficult,” he began. “So far, we’ve done a very good job of doing it with Charlie, with the various times this has happened.” And then, he quickly pivoted to blame the school.
You’d really have to ask the school a little bit more about that because this was a school problem. They had their own guards. They had their own police. They had their own everything. But you’d have to ask that question really to the school, not to the FBI. We came in after the fact, and the FBI will do a good job, but they came in after the fact.
Trump holds Brown University accountable for the shooting
In other words, it’s not his problem or the FBI’s problem. It should be Brown University taking press conferences instead. But the context Trump conveniently ignored is grim. The shooter fled after killing two students and injuring nine others on December 13. A man was briefly held as a person of interest, but was released (via euronews). Yet standing at the podium, Trump framed the investigation failure as a local inconvenience rather than a national crisis.
Mind you, this is the same president who rushed to post misinformation about a suspect being in custody on Truth Social. But now, he insists federal authorities only arrived “after the fact,” to absolve them of responsibility. Social media users immediately saw through the deflection. “Okay, let’s ask the school why it’s been so hard for Kash Patel to do his job then,” one wrote. Another added, “Take credit if the guy is found. Blame the school if he isn’t. Pathetic.”
And that’s the pattern. When something goes right, Trump claims ownership. But when something goes wrong, responsibility becomes someone else’s problem. A school problem, media problem, Biden problem. Anything but Trump’s problem.
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