It's been just 48 hours since Republican lawmakers and their staff members were gunned down on a field in Alexandria by a Bernie Sanders volunteer while practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game. Republican Whip Steve Scalise is still in critical condition at the hospital and has undergone a number of surgeries after being shot in the pelvis.
In reaction to the attack, Nebraska Democrat Chelsey Gentry-Tipton said it was funny to watch Republicans who were on the field get emotional when recalling what happened during media interviews. After calls for a new civility, unity and her resignation, Gentry-Tipton is doubling down.
From the Omaha-World Herald:
A Nebraska Democratic Party official has refused calls to resign her volunteer position after calling reactions to this week’s shooting of a high-ranking Republican member of Congress “so funny” on social media.
Chelsey Gentry-Tipton of Omaha said in statement that she will not resign as chairwoman of the party’s Black Caucus, saying her post was taken out of context by party officials.
The Nebraska party’s leadership asked Gentry-Tipton to step down Wednesday, several hours after she wrote, in a Facebook thread about the shooting at in Alexandria, Virginia, “Watching the congressman crying on live tv abt the trauma they experienced. Y is this so funny tho?”
Later, in the same thread, she stated, “The very people that push pro NRA legislation in efforts to pad their pockets with complete disregard for human life. Yeah, having a hard time feeling bad for them.”
The question now is, what does the DNC have to say about this? Will newly minted Chairman Tom Perez, who said at a recent rally that Republicans "don't give a damn about people," step in? Or will he allow her to continue in her position as a representation of the Democrat Party?