The shooting of former President Trump at Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania has united the country around condemning political violence, but a handful of unhinged Democratic officials and fundraisers didn’t get the memo.
These uncivil few were openly wishing on social media that the sniper’s bullet had killed the former president.
In an optimistic sign of the times, however, their divisive missives were met with near-universal scorn, and nearly all were later backtracked or deleted. 4 The shooting of former President Trump at Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania has united the country around condemning acts of political violence. AP
Here’s what they had to say. Colo. State Rep. Steven Woodrow
Within minutes of Thomas Matthew Crooks peppering Trump’s Butler, Pa. rally with bullets, killing a hero firefighter and wounding Trump and two others, Colorado state Rep. Steven Woodrow penned a post on X comparing the former president with the devil and bemoaning the sympathy his brush with death invited.
The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are, he wrote.
His post garnered nearly 2 million views before he deleted it, and eventually his entire account.
In a text exchange with Colorado Public Radio, the state lawmaker made an abrupt about-face, acknowledging that his post had been “inarticulate” and apologizing “that my words caused additional pain.” 4 Colorado state Rep. Steven Woodrow penned a post on X comparing the former president with the devil. X / @woodrowforco Tenn. State Rep. Antonio Parkinson
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson from Tennessee used the occasion of the first attempted assassination of a US presidential candidate in 43 years to sow conspiracy theories, writing on X, “I certainly hope this is not a staged act. But…”
He provided no evidence whatsoever to back up his claim.
After his post went viral — viewed more than 2 million times — Parkinson walked back his toxic rhetoric, denouncing “all acts of violence and those perpetrating them” in a series of follow-up tweets. Tenn. State Sen. London Lamar
Another Volunteer State Democrat who put her poor taste on full display in the wake of Trump’s shooting was state Sen. London Lamar, who blamed “extremism from the MAGA regime” for bringing about the assassination attempt in a now-deleted post on X.
Less than 90 minutes later, Lamar offered a tepid non-apology for her divisive post with a generic follow-up that read in part, “Folks are very sensitive right now about where we are going as a country… they should be.”
And encouraged voters who were “mad” about political violence to “head to the ballot box this November.” 4 Sen. London Lamar blamed “extremism from the MAGA regime” for bringing about the assassination attempt in a now-deleted post on X. Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam
Not wanting to leave county office holders off the list of ill-timed responses to the near national-tragedy, Bethany Hallam, council member at-large for Allegheny County, Pa., located about 20 miles south of Butler, weighed in with snark.
According to her Republican counterpart Sam DeMarco, Hallam posted in response to a social media posting about Trump being shot with a sarcastic, “Wow, the crime in Butler County is out of control.”
DeMarco has called on Hallam to resign. Although she later deleted her comment, she sniped online critics of her earlier post, “Yeah, man. I just realized I didn’t know s–t about what happened and shouldn’t say anything unless I do, so I deleted it. You should try it sometime,” local station WTAE reported.
DeMarco said her actions were in “extremely poor taste” and represented “an example of where rhetoric has gone in the wrong direction and is over the top.” Congressional Staffer Jacqueline Marsaw
A congressional staffer of Democratic Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) thought she was being clever with a Facebook post — captured by SuperTalk Mississippi News — in which she sardonically claimed to be anti-violence before urging Crooks to “get you some shooting lessons.”
“Ooops that wasn’t me talking,” she added, in an attempt at being cute.
The outlet screengrabbed several other repugnant posts before they were deleted, including implications the shooting was staged, and taunting, “That’s what your hate speech got you!” 4 Congressional Staffer Jacqueline Marsaw in a Facebook post — captured by SuperTalk Mississippi News — in which she sardonically claimed to be anti-violence before urging Crooks to “get you some shooting lessons.” @DelbertHosemann/X
Her boss Rep. Thompson who previously proposed legislation that would have stripped Trump of Secret Service protection if he was sentenced to prison following his felony conviction swiftly fired the callous staffer.
He wrote on X, “I am glad the former President is safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.”
Marsaw later told the local Natchez Democrat newspaper that she “got overwhelmed in the moment,” claiming she meant the distasteful posts as jokes. Start and end your day informed with our newsletters
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Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Missouri House Candidate Jess Piper
If there was an award for the most deranged response to Trump’s shooting by a public figure out there, Jess Piper, executive director of left-wing advocacy group Blue Missouri who is also seeking a seat in the state’s House of Representatives, would be a sure contender.
Piper, the self-described “Dirt Road Democrat” from the Show Me State, expressed “horror” at seeing a Trump-supporting emergency room doctor being interviewed after the rally.
Following it up with casually wondering if such a physician would disregard their Hippocratic Oath on a whim.
“Would they render care to an undocumented person? A child who’s been raped? A gay person? A trans person?”
She asked her X followers, completely seriously.
Piper hasn’t walked back her bizarre remarks just yet, but later in a separate post she finally acknowledged “there are likely hundreds of thousands of doctors who identify as Republican,” adding, “but to identify with Trump and attend his rally? My God.”
