A White House official told The Washington Post that coverage of the mass shooting at a Florida high school last week gave the administration “a reprieve” from dealing with overwhelming negative news.

“For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve,” one administration said in a story posted Monday. “A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.”

The official said the aftermath of the Florida shooting was similar to that after the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, when politicians and media coverage focused on the assault.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But as we all know, sadly, when the coverage dies down a little bit, we’ll be back through the chaos,” the official said.

Before the shooting, Trump officials had been facing intense coverage over the handling of abuse allegations against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, as well as the number of Trump officials who did not have full security clearances.

“From an awful, cynical, purely-political point of view, the tragic events in Florida probably helped the White House this week by distracting from the awful wave of scandal and bad news they have faced,” Republican strategist Michael Steel told the Post.

President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE traveled to Florida on Friday and met with survivors of the shooting. He has been staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort since.

He will hold a listening session with high schoolers on gun control this week, and the White House said on Monday that Trump backs efforts to improve the federal system for gun background checks.