Kurt Bardella

Opinion contributor

When white supremacists and Nazis descended upon Charlottesville, Va. for a rally of hate in August, this was President Trump’s defense of his delayed reaction: “I don't want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement. I want to know the facts.”

Four days after the Las Vegas shooting that resulted in the murder of 58 Americans (and more than 450 wounded), when asked about gun control, Trump responded, “We’re not going to talk about that today. We won’t talk about that.”

More:Las Vegas shooting: The gun fight is over and the gun-rights crowd won

More:Navy vet on Vegas: We need gun laws that make us as safe as our military

But last week, less than 24 hours after a terrorist attack in New York City that resulted in the murder of at least eight people, Trump tweeted that he had ordered the Department of Homeland Security “to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!”

In another tweet, Trump outright blamed the terrorist attack on Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty,” he wrote.

So much for “it takes a little while to get the facts” approach and wanting to avoid “making a political statement.”

Why is it acceptable to start talking about changing policy in the immediate aftermath of an attack that killed eight people but it’s considered “premature,” as White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders put it, to have a policy conversation after an attack that killed 58 people?

Why the double standard?

There is an obvious truth about the policy conversation on gun reform solutions aimed at preventing shooting massacres like Las Vegas and this week’s horrific church shooting in Texas: They don’t align with the Trump base and its obsession with the Second Amendment. Addressing the New York City attack, however, fits Trump’s unique brand of American nationalism that was amplified during his campaign. He could not wait to initiate the conversation to terminate the “Diversity Visa Lottery Program,” but when was the last time you heard him (or Republicans in Congress) push for a vote on banning bump stocks?

It’s disturbing that the White House is so eager to act when the perpetrator of violence has a name like Sayfullo Saipov versus a name like Stephen Paddock or Devin Patrick Kelley.

Paddock’s Las Vegas attack resulted in seven times more deaths and about 45 times more injuries than Saipov’s.

I don’t say this to negate the impact of those who were killed and injured in last week’s cowardly attack in New York. A life is a life and no one life should be valued over another’s.

In the hours after Sunday's church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Trump tweeted: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas…”

Vigilance to prevent these attacks should be pursued to the full extent of our capabilities. Offering “thoughts and prayers” and invoking “God” sounds nice but does nothing to help us prevent these shootings.

And yet Trump has the audacity declare that the Texas church shooting was caused by a “mental health problem” and that “this isn’t a guns situation.” Never mind the fact that in February, Trump signed into law a bill that rolled back regulations that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to buy a gun.

More:Country music isn't gun-culture music. After Vegas, I hope we've learned that much.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

In choosing to acknowledge the policy ramifications of one attack while completely ignoring them for the others, Trump and Republican policymakers are consciously and callously choosing to value the life of a victim in New York City more than the life of a victim in Las Vegas or Texas because it’s more politically convenient for them.

The dead in Sutherland Springs were in a church, they were praying, with God, and at least 26 of them are dead. That’s more than 80 innocent Americans murdered in two mass shooting attacks within 40 days of one another.

It’s not government’s job to issue a drumbeat of “thoughts and prayers” when tragedy strikes. It’s the government’s job to enact policies to ensure tragedies don’t happen in the first place.

Political commentator Kurt Bardella is a former spokesman for Breitbart News, The Daily Caller, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.). The views expressed here are his own. Follow him on Twitter: @KurtBardella