In San Bernardino Friday night, he will encounter a group of families still planning and attending funerals for loved ones killed in a December 2 mass shooting as they attended a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.
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The Obamas are scheduled to arrive in San Bernardino at 7:40 p.m. and remain there for about two hours before continuing on to Hawaii, where the family will spend the Christmas holiday.
Fourteen people were killed when Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on his colleagues at a holiday meeting December 2.
Obama has tried to allay those concerns with a rare Oval Office address, days after the San Bernardino attack, on the administration’s strategy to counter the threat from IS, as well as through public appearances this week with members of his national security team following separate briefings he received on the Islamic State and potential threats to the homeland.
Privately, aides said Obama is bristling at the thought of being irrelevant during the heat of the 2016 presidential race. “Tomorrow is all about grieving together and comforting each other”.
“His presence itself is comforting”, he said.
The visit comes one day after the man accused of buying the rifles used in the shooting was charged with a trio of federal crimes.
Obama will sign the measure, which includes numerous spending increases he fought for all year and is largely free of GOP attempts to block his moves on the environment, financial regulation, and consumer protection. “It doesn’t bring her back”.
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Amanios raised money for Obama’s 2008 campaign even through the immigrant from Eritrea was still not eligible to vote, said Tekleab, who worked as a field staffer on the president’s 2012 re-election campaign.
