Photo Credit: Joshua A. Bickel/Ohio Debate Commission.
Ohio U.S. Senate Republican candidate J.D. Vance during Ohio’s U.S. Senate Republican Primary Debate at Central State University.
Venture capitalist-turned Republican U.S. Senator J.D Vance tweeted transphobic claims about the motivation behind a Monday, March 28 deadly school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
"We're still learning about the horrific shooting in Nashville. But if early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn't compassion, it's dangerous," Vance tweeted.
"In the meantime," he continued in a new tweet. "Say a prayer for every kid who lost their life and every parent mourning a child. Christ have mercy."We're still learning about the horrific shooting in Nashville. But if early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn't compassion, it's dangerous.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) March 27, 2023
Vance is referring to the former student of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian private school in Nashville, who shot through the school's doors on Monday and killed three children and three adults. The Associated Press reported that police identified the shooter as a 28-year-old woman named Audrey Elizabeth Hale. Police later said Hale was transgender but declined to elaborate on how Hale identified.
While nearly 98% of all mass shooting perpetrators in the U.S. are male, Vance again has tied a moment of violence with the existence of trans people. During a February 2022 interview with Steve Bannon, Vance said transgender rights are driving Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine.
Vance did not respond to a request for comment on the tweet about the Nashville school shooter.
President Joe Biden has called on members of Congress to enact stronger gun safety laws following the shooting.
“Our message here is very, very clear: Enough is enough. We need to see action in Congress,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Tuesday morning interview on CNN.
Originally published by CityBeat, Scene's sister paper in Cincinnati.
