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The disastrous choice American voters made in last year’s presidential election was put on grim display earlier this month in response to the politically motivated shooting of Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses by a right-wing extremist named Vance Boelter.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded to the violence like a decent human being and condemned the shooting as an attack on all Americans and our very civic order.
“We are not a country that settles our differences at gunpoint,” a somber Walz said during a press conference. “We have demonstrated again and again in our state that it is possible to peacefully disagree, that our state is strengthened by civil public debate. We must stand united against all forms of violence — and I call on everyone to join me in that commitment.”
The president, meanwhile, responded to the shootings like — well, like a maniac.
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Trump rejected Walz’s call for unity and as always refused to even pretend he’s supposed to be the president of the entire United States.
“I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him?” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?”
Trump’s predecessors responded more humanely to gun violence. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, Republican president George W. Bush immediately reached out to Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and offered his support and sympathy. Four years later, when 19 people, including Rep. Gabby Giffords, were shot in Tucson, Arizona, President Barack Obama offered Republican Gov. Jan Brewer — a vocal political opponent — the full resources of the federal government.
Unfortunately, 77 million Americans surrendered these moments of shared humanity when they put Trump back in the White House. The tragedies that once united us now only result in more division. And no one, including his supporters, should have expected anything else.
Owning the libs is everything
Most of the Republicans who might’ve distanced themselves from Trump’s repulsive behavior or dared to criticize him publicly, even if tepidly — such as Mitt Romney, Jeff Flake, or Paul Ryan — are no longer in office, and those who remain either find it easier to stay quiet or politically expedient to follow his shameful example.
Perhaps the worst offender was Utah Sen. Mike Lee. Barely a day had passed since the shooting when Lee tweeted two hateful, cruel messages, both of them featuring security camera photos of a mask-wearing Boelter just before he opened fire.
Lee’s first tweet inaccurately blamed Democrats for the assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark: "This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way,” Lee wrote.
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Lee’s second tweet was even more vile: he shared two images of the killer (who in fact is a staunch Trump supporter) with the caption, “Nightmare on Waltz street.” (Yes, Lee misspelled the governor’s name.)
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