Henderson County sheriff joins Trump school-safety talk, supports arming school officials

WASHINGTON D.C. — Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald spoke with President Donald Trump and other national leaders at a school safety roundtable in the White House Thursday.

The roundtable — which brought together government officials, law enforcement officers and educators — was a response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which claimed 17 lives last week. McDonald was one of two law enforcement officials present. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was seated next to McDonald.

During the meeting, McDonald praised the president for pushing for mental health reform as it relates to gun violence. He also supported Trump's proposal to arm school officials, a controversial suggestion he has pushed on Twitter this week and again during the round table discussion Thursday.

"I appreciate your courage, sir, to talk about the fact that I do think there is a place for properly trained people in certain areas as well," McDonald said, addressing Trump. "I think multi-layered, like an onion, security has got a lot of facets, and I believe that you’ve got certainly the courage and leadership to bring all this together."

MORE: 'It's devastating': Cop stayed outside during Florida massacre while students died

MORE: Florida Gov. Rick Scott following school shooting: You must be 21 to buy a gun

Trump thanked McDonald, and fell back on an old line about political correctness.

"It’s going to take a lot of political courage, you’re right, a lot of political courage," the president said, speaking to McDonald. "Some of it won’t be politically correct, but time for political correctness is over. We have to get this problem solved, so you’re right about that."

McDonald spoke with Fox News' Shannon Bream on her program Thursday night, where he went into greater detail about his views on arming school employees.

"The president was very adamant about arming the right kind of personnel within the school system," he told the Fox host. "I’m one of the few people, I guess, that goes along with that. Again, it’s not giving anybody a gun and hoping they’ll do what they need to do. But it’s training, vetting people very well."

He likened armed school employees to air marshals, whose anonymity and ability to use deadly force he said serves as a deterrent against any would-be hijackers.

In a statement issued Thursday, McDonald thanked the president and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican who represents much of Western North Carolina, for the invitation to participate in the school safety discussion. Meadows returned the praise in a statement of his own.

"I can think of no better individual or professional to represent our districts' schools and law enforcement at the White House than Sheriff Charles McDonald,” he wrote.

Sheriff McDonald was unavailable for comment Friday, as he is not yet back in North Carolina.