Barack Obama: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who were killed and injured.”

People need to “rediscover what’s the story we tell about how we’re going to live together, and see each other, and recognise each other, and disagree, and yet, still care for each other”.

The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views.

I’m going to insist that we can do better than we’re doing right now.

It is a decision about how do we face and embrace this finite amount of time we have on the planet.