Apparently, most mass shooters are Democrats—at least according to Rep. Claudia Tenney, an upstate New York Republican, who claimed this during a radio interview in Albany, CNN reports. Tenney is up for re-election in one of America’s most cutthroat congressional districts and is a major advocate of the Second Amendment.
Talking with host Fred Dicker on WGDJ radio, Tenney said, “It's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats...but the media doesn't talk about that.”
Tenney and Dicker were speaking on the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead on Feb. 14. Tenney’s comment in particular was a response to Dicker explaining that a bulk of gun victims originate from the inner cities.
During the interview, the Republican rep. said she approves of a federal background check system and contended that the Florida shooting shouldn’t alter the gun control debate in her district, which includes the cities of Utica, Rome, and Binghamton.
Tenney's campaign issued a statement following her comments. “I am fed up with the media and liberals attempting to politicize tragedies and demonize law-abiding gun owners and conservative Americans every time there is a horrible tragedy,” she wrote. “While we know the perpetrators of these atrocities have a wide variety of political views, my comments are in response to a question about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. I will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens who are smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists.”
Democrats quickly attacked her response. Evan Lukaske, a spokesperson from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement, “Once again Congresswoman Tenney has demonstrated how completely unfit she is to serve in Congress.” He continued, “Tenney's comments are unhinged, shameful, and disgusting and show why voters will replace her next November.”
During her interview, Tenney pointed out that her duty to the Second Amendment was beneficial for re-election in her district, and didn’t forget to mention that her opponent, Utica Democrat and Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, is also an advocate for gun rights.
As a state legislator, Brindisi has an A rating from the National Rifle Association, which signifies his backing of gun rights. He also hasn’t moved to revise gun laws after the Florida shooting.
Tenney's argument is a difficult one to make, especially since it isn't supported by facts or statistics. “The media typically doesn’t report the political leanings of any shooter unless it’s relevant,” CNN politics reporter Tal Kopan said in response to Tenney’s statement. “A terrorist action is defined as having some sort of political motivation underlying it. Certainly, when a terrorist or a shooting happens that is specifically designed for a particular cause, that would be something that’s relevant. But I don’t see how in many of these mass casualty events, where there are no political motivations at play necessarily, that a person’s individual background would even be relevant, and especially when you talk about how troubled some of these individuals are, and have such a complicated history.”
Looks like we have yet another "unhinged" Republican lawmaker on our hands.
