The White House clarified President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE’s comment that he would have run into the Parkland, Fla., high school during the mass shooting there this month, saying Trump would have stepped up "as a leader" during the attack.

“I think he was just stating that as a leader, he would have stepped in and hopefully been able to help. As a number of the individuals that were in the school — the coach and other adults and even a lot of the students — stepped up and helped protect other students,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.

“I think the point he was making is that he would have wanted to play a role in that as well,” she added.

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Trump had said earlier Monday that he believes he would have run into the school to stop the gunman.

"You don't know until you test it, but I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon,” Trump said. "And I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too."

The president was criticizing an armed sheriff’s deputy who didn’t enter the building during the shooting.

The deputy’s lawyer said Monday that the officer believed the gunshots were coming from outside the school, and not inside the building.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel suspended the deputy after viewing surveillance footage of him outside the school during the shooting. The deputy has since filed for retirement.