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Dems' Shooting Blame Game Shamelessly Comes for Steve Scalise

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 17, 2022 7:30 PM

There's been no shortage of shame from Democrats when it comes to the blame they toss around for Saturday's shooting in Buffalo, where 18-year-old Payton Gendron allegedly shot multiple people at a Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighborhood, killing 10. They've blamed Fox News' Tucker Carlson, as well as House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, and they've even blamed House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, despite how he himself has been a victim of a gunman targeting Republicans. 

During a practice session that occurred on June 14, 2017 for the annual Congressional baseball game, Scalise and other Republican members and staff members were shot by James Hodgkinson, who was known to have a clear hatred for Republican members. He was also a fan of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

On Monday, in the days following the shooting, Scalise was gaining attention and generating discussion on Twitter. Worse, those speaking out against him even dismissed whataboutism.

Some even took the chance to double down on their craziness.

The mainstream media also jumped in on blaming Republicans for the tragedy over the weekend. There was, as was to be expected, a slew of opinion pieces for left-leaning outlets, but it also found its way into the reporting sections of outlets as well. This included Salon, NPR, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, the editorial board of The New York Times,  and CNN. The Washington Post weighed in with numerous pieces with both its news reports and opinion pieces, as did The Guardian.

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And, as Julio highlighted on Monday, "Vox Media Makes the Buffalo Shooting All About Them." Matt also did coverage on "What's Interesting About the Rolling Stone Reporter Who Says Buffalo Shooter Is a 'Mainstream Republican.'"

Writing for The Hill, Mike Lillis and Emily Brooks highlighted how "Democrats hit GOP over 'replacement theory.'" Brooks, along with Mychael Schnell also wrote for the outlet about how "House GOP leaders say white nationalism accusations are all politics."

Nevertheless, Scalise took it all in stride. "What happened in Buffalo is a tragedy, and it’s disgusting and sadly predictable that some Democrats immediately attempted to exploit the tragedy of others for their own political gain. I’ve experienced political violence firsthand, and I never blamed anyone but the shooter," he offered in a statement to Townhall. "Blaming an opposing political party for the actions of an evil, insane individual is disgraceful and irresponsible. We should be focused on praying for the victims and their families, bringing swift justice to the person directly responsible for the tragedy, and ratcheting down the heated political rhetoric."

But it wasn't merely random users or Democratic allies in the mainstream media. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) called out GOP leadership, tagging the party she still claims to belong to in her tweet. 

She even got retweeted by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who disgustingly tweeted incessantly blaming Republicans for the shooter's actions in Buffalo and in Laguna Woods from Sunday. 

It looks like Cheney may have perhaps helped her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, even more so with such a tweet.