Katie Rooney with an update on campaign responses to the Virginia Tech murders.
All of the presidential candidates with events scheduled today have either canceled or postponed them and most have released public statements regarding yesterday’s fatal shootings on the Virginia Tech campus. Here’s what the candidates have to say about the worst shooting in U.S. history:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) closed his presidential Web site for a 24-hour mourning period following the shooting. A statement and a picture of a white Lily are the only things on the site.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said, “Violence has once again taken too many young people from this world. In Blacksburg, they were daughters. They were sons. They were our nation’s new leaders.”
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) called yesterday a day of “national tragedy” where we “lost some of our finest to a senseless act.”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) also offered his thoughts and prayers to the Virginia Tech community and gave his full support to “law enforcement officials who are involved with stabilizing the situation and conducting an investigation.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called yesterday an “inconceivable tragedy” and a “horrific act of cruelty” that killed so many young people, “cutting their lives short and inflicting tremendous pain on all of those who loved them.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) offered a prayer on his Web site
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) urged everyone to “come together as a nation and prevent such needless loss of life.”
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and his wife offered a Methodist hymn on their site and said they were “heartbroken” by the deaths and injuries.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) kept his pretty short, saying, “there are few comforting words in such senseless times as these.”
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said “as a parent, I am filled with sorrow for the mothers and fathers and loved ones struggling with the sudden, unbearable news of a lost son or daughter, friend or family member.”
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and his wife extended their condolences “to the families of the victims whose lives were cut short by this horrific tragedy.”
-Katie Rooney