CNN's Jeff Zeleny said Sunday that Barack Obama's White House was "so afraid" to discuss terrorism but was "fixated" on talking about gun control during a panel on the administration's response to a deadly attack by two Islamic shooters in California last week.
Not long after White House spokesman Josh Earnest finished his daily briefing and would not call the acts in San Bernardino terrorism Friday, the FBI announced it was investigating the attack that left 14 people dead as an act of terrorism. One of the attackers pledged allegiance to the Islamic State online as the rampage began, and the terrorist group said in an online radio broadcast that two of its followers had carried out the assault.
"They have been so afraid to use that word," Zeleny said. "They seem fixated, to me, on this was a gun control argument. He put out a statement very early on, I thought shockingly early actually, after this shooting on Wednesday. It's clear that the White House has struggled so much just in its fear of saying that word and using that word. It's been a problem for them."
The New York Times' Jonathan Martin added the president "detests" rushing out and making a "sweeping statement" about issues until the facts are in, a curious remark given Zeleny had just laid out how Obama almost instantly made remarks about gun control after hearing about the shooting.
Indeed, almost immediately after the massacre, Obama told CBS News the U.S. needed to enact gun safety laws to combat the tide of mass shootings.
"The president is so deliberate anyways, and he detests the political culture of rushing out and making some sweeping statement about issues until you know the facts, but I think there's something to what Jeff is saying," Martin said. "Politically, in some ways, it is easier for this president to talk about the gun issue than it is ... these were self-created jihadis. It's a much thornier challenge."
Martin's newspaper published a front-page editorial demanding legislators take up gun control legislation on Saturday.
Obama will give a rare address from the Oval Office Sunday night to discuss the latest in the terrorist threats facing the U.S. He said in November there was no intelligence to indicate any imminent attack on the homeland. He fell under fresh criticism for saying the Islamic State was "contained" in the days before the group attacked Paris and killed 130 people, as well as telling reporters that he had the "right strategy" afterward to handle the Islamic State.
Obama also initially compared the organization to a junior varsity basketball team trying to be like the Los Angeles Lakers before its true threat became more apparent to the world.