In the wake of the Parkland, Fla., shooting, many -- including President Trump -- are pointing the finger at violent video games for potentially shaping player behaviors. But the industry is just “a very convenient scapegoat for a lot of politicians,” according to Ashley Jenkins, Host of Rooster Teeth’s “The Know.”
There have been several studies looking into the impact of video games, and none have found any causal links with behavioral issues, Jenkins told Cheddar.
She pointed out that the games in question are often played around the world, and those countries “don’t have the same level of gun violence, so it’s unlikely that the correlation there has anything to do with actual video games.”
President Trump has said he’ll meet with video game executives at some point this week to discuss the violent content in their products.
But it seems like the industry, including companies such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, is unaware of this meeting.
“At this point no one in the industry has any idea who Trump plans on meeting with,” said Jenkins.
This debate around the impact of video games isn’t new and tends to resurface after every violent tragedy.
For example, there were similar calls for restraints after the Columbine shooting in 1999. But that movement didn’t really go anywhere.
Instead, the video game industry set up the Entertainment Software Association, which functions as “an independent regulatory body to avoid government interference,” much like the Motion Picture Association of America self-regulates for movies, said Jenkins.
Trump, though, doesn’t seem aware that the body exists, suggesting at a meeting with shooting survivors last month that video games should be subject to a “ratings system.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-planning-to-meet-with-video-game-makers).
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
