'Get over here! Boom': Trump seemed to reenact the 2015 Paris terror attacks as he repeated his argument that armed concert-goers could have stopped the massacre
- US President Donald Trump appeared to reenact a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris that killed 90 people as he addressed the National Rifle Association on Friday.
- He gestured to his side as if leading someone over, and twice said "Get over here, boom," while pointing his finger as if to mime a gun.
- Trump was using the attacks to argue against greater gun control laws, and said that the attack could have been stopped if a "tiny percent" of concertgoers had been carrying weapons.
- Trump has made this argument before, and was condemned for it by the French government last year.
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US President Donald Trump appeared to reenact the 2015 Paris terror attacks that killed 90 people as he addressed the NRA on Friday, repeating his argument that armed concert-goers could have stopped the massacre.
Trump said that the shootings were so deadly because of France's strict gun control laws, and said that if "there was one gun being carried by one person on the other side, it very well could've been a whole different result."
"The shooting went on so long, and there wasn't a thing you could do about it, Trump said.
He then gestured to his side as if leading someone over, and said "Get over here, boom," while pointing his finger as if to mime a gun. He then repeated the action and phrase.
You can watch the moment here, shared by Vox journalist Adam Rupar.
"And then they left," he said, referring to the shooters. "They were captured later."
90 people were killed at the Bataclan concert hall in November 2015, with a total of 130 people killed in co-ordinated attacks around the city.
He said that if a "tiny percent" of concertgoers had been carrying weapons, the attack "probably wouldn't have happened because the cowards would have known there were people and they're having guns."
Trump has made this argument before. In 2015, when he was a presidential candidate, he said the day after the shooting that the attack would have been "much, much different" if civilians were armed.
And Trump made the argument to the NRA in 2018, in comments that were condemned by the French government, which demanded that he "respect the memory of the victims of the 13 November attack".
"France expresses its firm disapproval of President Trump's comments in relation to the attack of the 13 November 2015 in Paris and we demand that the memory of the victims be respected," the government said in a statement.
"Each country can freely decide its own legislation on gun control. France is proud to be a country where the purchase and possession of fire arms are strictly regulated."The free circulation of fire arms in a society does not constitute a barrier against terrorist attacks, on the contrary this can facilitate the planning of these kind of attacks," it said.
While addressing the NRA in Indianapolis on Friday, Trump also announced that the US is withdrawing its signature from an international treaty intended to regulate the multi-billion dollar arms trade.
He urged cheering attendees to vote Republican in 2020.
"In recent days Democrats have proposed banning new guns and confiscating existing guns from law abiding citizens," he said.
"What they don't tell you is the bad guys don't give up their guns. And you're not going to be giving up your guns either."