by Shelby Talcott
Some liberals blamed Republicans on social media following two deadly shootings over the weekend.
A gunman opened fire at an El Paso, Texas, shopping area Saturday, killing 20 and injuring at least 26. A shooter killed nine people and injured 26 in downtown Dayton, Ohio, Sunday morning.
Many on social media put blame on conservatives, President Donald Trump, Fox News and others.
The alleged El Paso shooter, identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, is believed to be a white nationalist, and some blamed various conservatives such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson for spurring on the attack with “talking points.” Others blamed Republicans for supporting the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Jon Cooper, chairman of The Democratic Coalition, tweeted at Vice President Mike Pence, blaming him, Trump and Republicans. He wrote, “The blood of innocent victims is on your hands!”
Fuck you, @VP. Our nation doesn’t want your thoughts & prayers. You and @realDonaldTrump—and congressional Republicans—are complicit in these horrific acts of gun violence. YOUR HATE SPAWNS DOMESTIC TERRORISM BY WHITE NATIONALISTS. The blood of innocent victims is on your hands!
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 4, 2019
First daughter Ivanka Trump tweeted her condolences following the two shootings, prompting David Rothkopf, a professor and founder of The Rothkopf Group, to reply that “this is on you” and ask how she would “explain it” to her children.
You support your father's hate-mongering that fueled these tragedies. You support your father's policies which make deadly weapons available to all. You are part of the problem. This is on you. How will you explain it to your children?
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 4, 2019
Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker also weighed in, saying Donald Trump was “responsible” for the shootings.
“[Trump] is responsible,” Booker, a 2020 presidential candidate, said on NBC News Sunday. “He is responsible when he has taken no action whatsoever to even condemn white supremacy. … We have a president who is responsible.”
“If any of the El Paso’s alleged language or words or talking points sound familiar, it’s because they are used by Trump, Fox News and right wing media,” Wajahat Ali, a CNN contributor and New York Times op-ed contributor, tweeted Saturday.
If any of the El Paso's alleged language or words or talking points sound familiar, it’s because they are used by Trump, Fox News and right wing media. Andrew Anglin, a leading neo-Nazi, says Tucker Carlon's show mainstreams all their talking points. Read that again. 10/
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) August 4, 2019
2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke blamed Donald Trump for the shootings as well as Fox News when he spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday morning.
“The open racism that we’re seeing, there’s an environment of it in the United States. We see it on Fox News. We see it on the internet. … [Trump] is encouraging this. He doesn’t just tolerate it, he encourages it,” O’Rourke, a former Texas representative, said on CNN Sunday.
Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters for America, also blamed Fox News and “right-wing media” for the El Paso attack.
“Fox News fuels white supremacy and extremism,” Carusone tweeted. “A big part of why this country is bubbling over with extremists these days can be traced to white-wing media.”
Fox News fuels white supremacy and extremism. Have for a long time now. A big part of why this country is bubbling over with extremists these days can be traced to right-wing media.
— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) August 4, 2019
He also retweeted a comment that blamed Carlson for the El Paso attack.
“If that manifesto is real, not sure why you would bother to write it when you could just cut and paste some @TuckerCarlson transcripts,” the tweet read.
People also attacked Dana Loesch, a former NRA spokesperson. CNN analyst Joan Walsh tweeted multiple times suggesting Loesch has blood on her hands because of her affiliation with the NRA.
“A little worried about your conscience, but honestly, that’s your responsibility,” Walsh tweeted at Loesch. Others weighed in, with actress Yvette Nicole Brown suggesting people should begin to blame the NRA and Loesch for the shootings.
“It’s very important to that Dana that you don’t look her way or towards the NRA. So whatever you do don’t blame them for the innocent folks gunned down,” Brown’s tweet read.
Florida State University student Hunter Pollack, who lost his sister in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, took a different approach. He urged people to stop using the weekend’s shootings to “attack republicans and the nra.”
“After the Parkland school shooting where my sister died, the left pounced on the opportunity to attack republicans and the nra,” Pollack tweeted Saturday evening. “They used my sisters death to advance their radical agenda. They are doing the same thing with the El Paso shooting. It’s pathetic and wrong.”
The El Paso shooting is the eighth deadliest shooting in U.S. modern history.
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Shelby Talcott is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photos “Tucker Carlson” and “President Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore CC2.0. Background photo “Colton Cotton Fictional Crime Scene” by Colton Cotton CC3.0.
