President Joe Biden and the White House have had some pretty eyebrow-raising responses in light of the shooting that took place at the Covenant School in Nashville on Monday. During Thursday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had been asked about a statement on "Trans Day of Visibility," and in response, gave a particularly impassioned response that in part mentioned how "our hearts go out to those--the trans community as they are under attack right now."
KJP: "Our hearts go out to the trans community, as they are under attack right now." pic.twitter.com/lHvV3InFNf
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 30, 2023
Our friends at Twitchy highlighted the reactions to Jean-Pierre's remarks, including how one user aptly tweeted about an "alternate universe" in response.
As Brett T. aptly wrote in his round-up of reaction tweets:
Nobody seems to care about the victims of Monday’s mass shooting by a trans man that killed six people, including three 9-year-olds, at a Christian school. No, Democrats and the mainstream media are concerned about the backlash by the “far-right” — the Department of Justice just concluded a virtual presentation on protecting LGBTQIA+ communities from hate-motivated attacks.
Some people immediately blamed the state of Tennessee for passing laws that denied “medical care” to trans minors. Karine Jean Pierre seemed to do exactly that during Thursday’s press briefing[.]
Jean-Pierre's remarks didn't include just a soundbite though. In response to discussing the now-cancelled Trans Day of Vengeance, which the reporter referred to as "a march... to commemorate this day but also to protest these types of bills that are continuing to be passed and advanced in legislatures across the country" before asking about the White House's message for "those who are taking to the streets to protest," Jean-Pierre emphasized that they "support peaceful protest.
An actual rally that took place, also on Thursday, was anything but "peaceful" and amounted to an insurrection at the Tennessee Capitol.
Also in her response, Jean-Pierre reminded how preoccupied the White House and this administration is with profiling so-called "trans kids" and promoting what they may refer to in fancy terms such as "gender-affirming care." In reality, such a process can involve genital mutilation and sterilization, not to mention all the adverse health side effects. The press secretary declared they've "been very clear" that such "anti-trans bills... attack trans kids, as they attack trans parents" and are "shameful" and "unacceptable."
Jean-Pierre also claimed that this position on such legislation is why Democrats performed better than excepted during the 2022 midterm elections, with one of the lessons being "that people don’t want their freedoms to be taken" and instead "they want us to fight for their freedoms." She went on to repeat that such bills were "shameful," even referring to them as "disturbing," which is when she shared her point that "our hearts go out to those--the trans community as they are under attack right now."
The press secretary was at least correct in saying that Biden's "record shows that" his administration has a preoccupation with children who may think that they are transgender.
When it comes to talking about the shooting that had just occurred, with the suspect identifying as transgender, Jean-Pierre did so in her opening remarks, in an attempt to score political points. "We’ve heard nothing from Republicans in Congress about what they will do to stop our kids from being murdered in our schools and in our communities," she claimed.
Such a narrative echoes claims from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) who engaged in a shouting match with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) at the Capitol on Wednesday night when the latter tried to offer solutions that Bowman didn't want to hear. The Squad member continued with that narrative on Twitter.
Earlier on Thursday, though, Townhall learned that Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee's Republican senators, would be introducing the Securing Aid for Every School (SAFE) Act to be introduced. As Spencer explained it, the bill "would establish a $900 million grant program that both public and private schools could use, and builds upon Blackburn's previous work to advance similar legislation in the 117th Congress."
The shooting also came up in that a reporter asked if the president had any plans to go to the community, noting First Lady Jill Biden had done so. Jean-Pierre's response was that they "don’t have anything to share on travel to Nashville at this time."
The district is represented by a Republican congressman and the state by Republican senators in Congress. It has a Republican governor and Republicans control their legislature. The state also voted for President Donald Trump, having voted for the Republican presidential candidate since 2000. One can't help wonder if Biden doesn't go himself because the political makeup of the area doesn't match up. He also hasn't gone to East Palestine, Ohio, months after they experienced a toxic train derailment.
Biden's own reactions to the tragedy have been no better. His Monday remarks at a woman's summit where he mentioned the shooting began with jokes on ice cream. When the shooting did come up, it involved Biden once more demanding Congress pass a so-called assault weapons ban.
The six victims, three of them 9-year-old children, were killed at a private Christian school, prompting Republican lawmakers to question, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), even demanding, that the shooting be investigated as a hate crime. The president joked about the incident when asked about Hawley's demands.
School children were killed yesterday in a hate crime - but rather than pushing for answers, Joe Biden is trying to make jokes. It’s beneath the office of the presidency pic.twitter.com/NS7mgLV0vJ
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 29, 2023