In a nation that has become terrifyingly accustomed to the ritual of campus tragedy, the sheer, sudden violence that erupted at Brown University last week still manages to stun. Yet, it was the US President's response, delivered from the solemn stage of the White House, that sparked immediate outrage and reopened one of America's most high-profile political feuds.
Donald Trump was speaking to reporters on Sunday about the terrible shooting at the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, an attack that left two young students dead and injured nine others. Rather than focusing solely on the victims, the president appeared to prioritise the institution's prestige, calling it a 'Great school, really one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world...,' before delivering the phrase that immediately trended for its perceived callousness, adding, 'Things can happen'.
