President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Orlando Thursday afternoon to pay tribute to the victims of the deadly nightclub shooting that took place last weekend.
Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott greeted the president on the tarmac. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, also a Republican, traveled with Obama from Washington, along with Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat who represents parts of the city. Biden and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, joined Obama on the tarmac.
The White House said the president aimed to emphasize his solidarity with Orlando's gays and lesbians during the visit.
"This was an attack on the LGBT community," Obama said. " Americans were targeted because we're a country that has learned to welcome everyone, no matter who you are or who you love. And hatred towards people because of sexual orientation, regardless of where it comes from, is a betrayal of what's best in us."
Arriving with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Obama immediately drove to the Amway Center, a stadium just two miles from the scene of the massacre, to meet privately with families of the survivors and 49 victims and with local law enforcement officials who responded to the shooting.
Nelson and one of the victim's family members spoke with WFTV after the meetings.
"Both the President and the Vice President are very somber, but very appreciative, as he is the consoler-in-chief right now," Nelson said.
"The Vice President said, 'You are not alone. We stand by you,' And Mr. Obama just looked at us and said, 'I understand the pain you have,' and you cannot describe that emotional moment," said a victim's family member, who did not give their name.
After the meeting, Obama attended a vigil at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
"There were husbands and wives who had taken a solemn vow; fathers and mothers who gave their full hearts to their children," Obama said. "These families could be our families. In fact, they are our family -- they're part of the American family."
The president said the motives behind the Pulse nightclub shooting may have been different than those behind other mass shootings but said the "instruments of death" were very similar. He added that "we are going to have to take different kinds of steps" to prevent similar attacks.
Nelson has called for stricter gun laws, saying, "We've got to get the Senate to a position it will vote; don't be a chicken."
Obama and Biden also met with the Orlando police officer whose Kevlar helmet stopped one of the Pulse shooter's bullets.
The low-profile visit reflected the challenge for the president to find something meaningful to say about an attack that has stoked a wide mix of fears about terrorism, guns and violence against gays.
Even as the families of the victims bury their loved ones, it's unclear what led a 29-year-old Muslim man born in New York to open fire in a gay nightclub early Sunday, where he may have been a frequent patron.
"The president's visit to Orlando has nothing to do with the individual who perpetrated this terrible attack," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. He said Obama intended to tell residents "that they're not alone, even as they endure what surely have been several dark nights."
The president's call for rejecting bigotry against gays and lesbians is complicated by the possibility that the gunman, Omar Mateen, may have been wrestling with his own sexuality. The FBI has been looking into reports that Mateen frequented the nightspot and reached out to men on gay dating apps.
Obama has called the Orlando shooting an act of terrorism and an act of hate. He noted that the site of the shooting was more than a nightclub, calling it a place where people came to raise awareness, speak their minds and advocate for their civil rights.
Obama has traveled to Newtown, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina, and other places to meet with families who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
The president had canceled what was to be his first campaign event with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the wake of the shooting. That event was scheduled for Wednesday.
Obama's visit to console victims and survivors of the Pulse massacre is his 9th such visit to a community victimized by a mass shooting. He has also ordered flags to half-staff more often than any other president in history, per USA Today.
December 2015: Mr. Obama and the first lady visited San Bernardino to meet privately with victims and families
October 2015: Obama visited victims' families and survivors of a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., where a gunman killed nine people.
June 2015: Obama delivered the eulogy for a reverend and state senator who was one of nine people killed in a racially motivated shooting in Charleston, S.C..
April 2014: Obama took part in a memorial at Fort Hood, Texas, after three soldiers were killed in a shooting at the Army post. It was the second time he visited the base after a shooting.
August 2012: After the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newport, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed, Obama met with victims and took part in a vigil.
July 2012: After the shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., where 12 people were killed, Obama met with victims' families and local and state officials.
January 2011: After the shooting in Tuscon, Ariz., where former Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot and six other people were killed, Obama met with victims' families. He took part in a televised memorial and delivered a speech.
November 2009: Obama visited Fort Hood, Texas, where a gunmen killed 13 fellow soldiers. He met with families of victims and delivered a memorial speech, his first as president following a mass shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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