Donald Trump has called the two mass shootings in Texas and Ohio “barbaric”, after at least 31 were killed in less than 24 hours over the weekend.

In his first remarks about the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the president condemned the evil of white supremacy as authorities said they were investigating an anti-immigrant manifesto tied to the suspect in El Paso. The president also said he had spoken with attorney general William Barr, urging the US Justice Department to implement the death penalty for hate-crime mass-murders.

“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun,” Mr Trump said from the White House. “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacism,” he added. The president talked about the “glorification of violence” as he hit out at violent video games “that are now commonplace” and that must be “substantially reduced”. Violence in video games has been a constant line of attack for Republicans since the 1990s.

However, while Mr Trump called for “bipartisan solutions” over the shootings, he did not mention any new restrictions on guns in this speech.

Mr Trump said he wanted legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, but he provided scant details, having reneged on previous promises after mass shootings.

El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Show all 39 1 /39 El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store CCTV images of the gunman identified as Patrick Crusius The 21 year old, as he entered the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store, killing 20. KTSM 9/AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement agencies respond The Texas city’s police chief said the assault on a Walmart store on Saturday, which left another 26 people wounded, was being investigated as a potential hate crime. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up Shoppers exit with their hands up after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Salgado NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. STRINGER Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store FBI released a picture of gunman Patrick Crusius The police officially identified the 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 650 miles east of El Paso. FBI/AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman reacts after the mass shooting The attack came just minutes after a far-right manifesto appeared online. If authentic, it would make it the third mass shooting this year announced in advance on the website, which often features far-right and racist content. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement responds to the active shooter The racist four-page document, titled “The Inconvenient Truth”, calls the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A shopper hiding with an old lady behind the return and exchanges counter as the shooting began. Aaron Castaneda/Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Ambulances in the car park near the scene It is ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, that claimed 21 lives. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Kendall Long (left) comforts Kianna Long (right) who was in the freezer section of Walmart. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store epa07755367 Police stand at attention after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, USA, 03 August 2019. According to reports, at least one person was killed and at least 18 people injured and transported to local hospitals. One suspect is in custody. EPA/IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE IVAN PIERRE AGUIRRE EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shopping carts sit next to a curb after the shooting. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso Fire Medical personnel arrive at the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Walmart employees react after. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman runs to police near the scene. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Several law enforcement agencies respond. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification centre. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Residents Erica Rios, 36, and Alma Rios, 61, cry outside a reunification centre. AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People gather in Juarez, Mexico, in a vigil for the Mexican nationals who were killed. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A child takes part in a vigil in Ciudad Juarez AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Francisco Castaneda joins mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School. Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, meets with mass shooting survivor, Rosemary, at University Medical Centre Beto O'Rourke Facebook via AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A sign is posted near the scene Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Police cars parked below the Walmart sign block a road outside while investigating. EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Sherie Gramlich reacts during a vigil. AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A man places flowers at the site Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at the Walmart store Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Lupe Lopez holds a picture of a victim during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at a Walmart store, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ REUTERS El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher who was married and the mother of two adult children, was one of the victims Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People with the Mexican flag and the US flag take part in a rally against hate a day Reuters El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People raise their arms in the air during a vigil for victims AP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react and embrace each other Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Women light candles at a make shift memorial at the site of a mass shooting EPA El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Adria Gonzalez (centre) who is being hailed as a hero for leading some Walmart customers to safety, speaks to the crowd AFP/Getty El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People hold up their phones AFP/Getty Images El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Beto O'Rourke speaks to the crowd AFP El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react during a prayer and candle vigil organized by the city, after a shooting left 20 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall WalMart in El Paso, Texas, on August 4, 2019. - A shooting at a Walmart store in Texas left multiple people dead. At least one suspect was taken into custody after the shooting in the border city of El Paso, triggering fear and panic among weekend shoppers as well as widespread condemnation. It was the second fatal shooting in less than a week at a Walmart store in the US and comes after a mass shooting in California last weekend. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty

“We vow to act with urgent resolve,” Mr Trump said.

The weekend shootings left dozens dead and more than 50 wounded. The president suggested hours earlier on Twitter that a background check bill could be paired with his long-sought effort to toughen the nation’s immigration system, but offered no details. That drew a sharp rebuke from a number Democrats.

“What’s [the] connection between background checks and immigration reform? That we have to keep guns out of the hands out of the invading hordes?” the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jerry Nadler, said in an interview with MSNBC. “That’s disgusting. It reminds me of the 1930s in Germany.”

Both shooting suspects were US citizens, and federal officials are investigating anti-immigrant bias as a potential motive for the El Paso, Texas, massacre.

Mr Trump has frequently sought to tie his immigration priorities – a border wall and transforming the legal immigration system to one that prioritises merit over familial ties – to legislation around which he perceives momentum to be building.

In El Paso, where the death toll has risen to 22, there was condemnation for the president’s proposals.

Equating immigration and background checks had no logic, said Heliana Ramirez, 42, who visits El Paso frequently from San Francisco to volunteer with community groups

“The president is fomenting hate,” she said. “Often the president will say something and you have to watch what his other hand is doing. I fear that with all these people stockpiling weapons we’re going to have a civil war.”

“I think he may have a point about looking at mental health. I think we do have a lot of problems.”

Hillary Chan, 25, a volunteer from Oakland, said the president’s plan did “not make much sense”.

“It was not an immigrant who shot up Walmart. It was someone with deep seated racism,” she said.

“Racism is a learned thing. You are not born racist,” she added.

Nicolas Palazzo, a lawyer with the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Centre, said it was very interesting to him that a white supremacist came here and shot dozens of people in an act of hate.

“It’s a false equation trying to tie this to immigration.”

He also said he doubted the president would pass any meaningful gun reform as the NRA “would not allow him”. He said: “Right now we’re seeing a lot of policies from Republicans that are deeply dangerous.”

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The president also received criticism after mistakenly referring to Toledo, instead of Dayton as the location for one of the mass shootings.

“May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo, may God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio. May God bless the victims and their families,” the president said said.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump tried to assure Americans he was dealing with the issue of gun violence and defended his administration in light of criticism following the latest in a string of mass shootings.

“We have done much more than most administrations,” he said, without elaboration. “We have done actually a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.”

Congress has proven unable to pass substantial gun violence legislation this session, despite the frequency of mass shootings, in large part because of resistance from Republicans, particularly in the Republican-controlled Senate. That political dynamic seems difficult to change and Mr Trump himself has reneged on previous pledges to strengthen gun laws.