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Claire McCaskill Reminds Us What a Relief It Is She's Not in Congress Anymore

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  March 28, 2023 8:45 PM

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) had the extreme misfortune of being an incumbent who lost reelection in 2018, former President Donald Trump's midterm election year. Of the two seats that Republicans picked up, this was one of them, and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley now holds that seat. 

She's often prone to takes which could at best be considered petty and partisan, and her reaction to Monday's shooting at the Covenant School, a Christian private school in Nashville was no different. A tweet of hers from that day mocked the "thoughts and prayers" in response to the shooting. 

McCaskill shared a screenshot of a photo included in a 2021 Christmas card from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), who represents Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, where the school is located. Ogles and his family members are seen carrying weapons, a move that gun control advocates have become absolutely apoplectic over. 

Shannon Watts, the founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, lambasted Ogles, as did Ana Navarro-Cárdenas of "The View."

Among the approximately 3,000 replies to McCaskill's tweet are those pointing out how ridiculous it is to equate the shooting with Ogle and his family members.

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McCaskill even got into it with one Billy Gribbin, who serves as the communications director for Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), as he dared to point out facts that didn't fit her narrative.


Sadly but not surprisingly, McCaskill is hardly the only one with such a shameful take on the shooting. Our sister site of Twitchy has been calling out these people since Monday afternoon, including the former senator, aptly highlighting how one user referred to McCaskill as "pond scum."

Unfortunately, those still in office are also prone to such terrible takes, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who has been trending on Twitter throughout Monday and Tuesday for his continuously terrible takes.

Matt also highlighted other takes, and Spencer called out Reuters' particular framing of the tragedy. As Twitchy mentioned, another media headline that led to some head scratching included an exclusive from the Daily Mail reveling that the suspect, who is now dead, supposedly had parents who "couldn't accept" her sexuality. This is despite how she was still living with them at the time, at 28-years-old.

The Washington Post also went after Rep. Ogles, in a now deleted tweet, though Dana Loesch had the receipts. The tweet, as did McCaskill, sought to tie in the photo with the shooting and how the congressman expressed how he is "heartbroken." 

As Twitchy also pointed out, Vanity Fair similarly went with such a take, though as of Tuesday evening that tweet is still up. The tweet links to a shameless article from Bess Levin, with headline pointing out how "Andy Ogles has nevertheless sent his 'thoughts and prayers.'"


Rep. Ogles makes no apologies for the photo. In speaking to Fox News' Chad Pergram, the congressman communicated he sees it as a matter of the rights granted by the Second Amendment. 

When it comes to Hawley's response, he is doing something much more productive with his time and his platform in reaction to the shooting. As Katie reported earlier on Tuesday, he's calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the shooting as a hate crime, given that the suspect "targeted" the Christian school, according to the police. "Hawley" and "Josh Hawley" trending on Twitter as a result. 

As covered earlier, however, Attorney General Merrick Garland has taken to deflecting on whether or not the shooting will be investigated as a hate crime, due to a lack of motive. 

Hawley also made headlines and was trending in part due to his exchange with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas who appeared on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He condemned the secretary for having "built Ticketmaster for illegal immigrants."