White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders showed a softer side of herself when a boy asked during a press conference Wednesday what the Trump administration was doing to keep him safe from school shootings.
The boy, 13-year-old Benje Choucroun and a reporter for Time for Kids, according to Time, told Sanders that his campus recently had a lockdown drill and that he was worried. "One thing that affects my and other students' mental health is the worry about the fact that we or our friends could get shot at school," said Choucroun, who shortly after participated in the White House's Sports and Fitness Day.
"Specifically, can you tell me what the administration has done and will do to prevent these senseless tragedies?" he asked.
Sanders, who listened intently, said, "I think that as a kid and certainly as parent, there is nothing that could be more terrifying than for a kid to go to school and not feel safe, so I'm sorry that you feel that way," with her voice cracking up.
"This administration takes it seriously," Sanders continued, "And the school safety commission that the president convened is meeting this week again, an official meeting, to discuss the best way forward and how we can do every single thing within our power to protect kids in our schools and to make them feel safe and their parents feel good about dropping them off."
Saying he recently had a lockdown drill at his school, child in White House press briefing asks Press Sec. Sanders what the Trump administration is doing to prevent school shootings. https://t.co/NkJuIoh4fP pic.twitter.com/IF45LFIA4T
— ABC News (@ABC) May 30, 2018
Sanders, who has three young children, earlier in the press conference said that President Donald Trump on Thursday will meet with the families of victims of the most recent school massacre, less than two weeks ago in Santa Fe, Texas, which led to 10 deaths.
The president will "personally offer his condolences and support" in Houston, Sanders said.
Choucroun is from California, according to CNN.
This story has been updated with the identity of the boy who asked Sanders the question and more information from the press conference.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
A Los Angeles native, Jessica Kwong grew up speaking Spanish, Cantonese and English, in that order. Her journalism career started at the San Francisco Chronicle and she has also been a staff writer at the San Antonio Express-News, La Opinión, Time Warner Cable Sports, San Francisco Examiner, and the Orange County Register. Kwong earned her bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature in Spanish and English and Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley.
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