MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace suggested Thursday that the country wouldn't be talking about gun violence if "17 white kids" weren't the victims of Wednesday's massacre at a south Florida high school.
A gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday afternoon, killing 17 people before being taken into custody. The mass shooting has re-opened the fiery debate in the U.S. over gun safety and Second Amendment rights.
After MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude made a point on "Deadline: White House" about "certain communities" having to deal with gun violence as part of their everyday reality, Wallace said that he appeared to be making a "racial point" about the debate.
"People in urban settings—we're talking about this because, let's be honest, 17 white kids were—I think you're making a good point, Eddie," Wallace said.
Glaude said guns were part of a "rugged individualism" narrative that needed to be challenged, but he said he also wished people were having a conversation about guns as if they lived in places like Oakland and Chicago, where gun violence is rampant.
"A slow motion mass shooting," MSNBC guest John Heilemann said.
The racial breakdown of the victims is unclear. Also, three of those killed were not children; one of them was athletic director Chris Hixon and another was assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who reportedly threw himself in the path of bullets to save students' lives. Also, geography teacher Scott Beigel was killed in the shooting.
UPDATED Friday, 6:05 A.M.: This story initially reported two of those killed in Wednesday's mass shooting were adults. The actual number was three. This has been corrected.