Trump: We Will ‘Overcome’ Las Vegas Massacre ‘Together as Americans’

President Donald Trump said that the United States “will struggle through” the aftermath of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas “together” and “overcome together as Americans” the tragedy, during a speech Wednesday in Las Vegas.

The president and first lady Melania Trump met with the wounded victims and the first responders who put their lives on the line when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on outdoor concertgoers during a massacre that left 58 victims dead and more than 500 injured. Trump visited the University Medical Center Wednesday, and while surrounded by Nevada politicians from both sides of the political aisle and after thanking the first responders and law enforcement officers “on behalf of the grateful nation,” the president urged a politically divided country to come together and unite in the face of tragedy.

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“The example of those whose final act was to sacrifice themselves for those they loved should inspire all of us to show more love every day for the people who grace our lives,” Trump said. “In the months ahead we will all have to wrestle with the horror of what has unfolded this week.”

“But we will struggle through it together. We will endure the pain together, and we will overcome together as Americans,” he continued.

The president urged Americans to find hope in the examples set by the law enforcement officers, first responders, and concertgoers who risked their lives to shield others and transport the wounded to safety.

“In the depths of horror, we will always find hope in the men and women who risk their lives for ours,” Trump said. “Parents and spouses used their own bodies as shields to protect their loved ones. Americans dashed into a hail of bullets to rescue total strangers.”

“Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter,” the president continued. “We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. You’re not alone. We will never leave your side.”

Noting that the gunman’s motives remain unclear as the nation struggles to make sense of why this tragedy happened, Trump said “we struggle for the words to explain to our children how such evil can exist, how there can be such cruelty and such suffering.”

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“But we cannot be defined by the evil that threatens us or the violence that incites such terror,” the president said. “We’re defined by our love, our caring and our courage. In the darkest moments, what shines most brightly is the goodness that thrives in the hearts of our people. That goodness is our lighthouse, and our solace is knowledge that the souls of those who passed are now at peace in heaven.”

In the aftermath of a bitter presidential election and in the midst of a severely partisan national landscape, the president appealed to the best within Americans as he begged them to set aside their differences while uniting in their grief and against hatred and violence.

“Here on earth we are blessed to be surrounded by heroes,” Trump said. “Words cannot describe the bravery that the whole world witnessed on Sunday night. Americans defied death and hatred with love and with courage. When … the worst of humanity strikes — and strike it did — the best of humanity responds.”

“The mass murder that took place on Sunday night fills America’s heart with grief,” he added. “America is truly a nation in mourning.”