The shooting of former President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday united the country in condemning political violence, but a few crazed Democratic Party officials and fundraisers weren’t getting the news.
This disrespectful minority openly hoped on social media that a sniper’s bullet would kill the former president.
But in a sign of optimistic times, their divisive letters were met with near-universal scorn and nearly all of them have since been retracted or deleted.
Here’s what they had to say:
Colorado Congressman Stephen Woodrow
Minutes after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a heroic firefighter and wounding Trump and two others, Colorado Congressman Stephen Woodrow Posted to X He likened the former president to the devil and lamented that his close contact with death had elicited sympathy.
“The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil, yet that’s what happened,” he wrote.
His post garnered nearly 2 million views before being taken down, and eventually his entire account was deleted.
In a text conversation with Colorado Public Radio, the state legislator suddenly reversed course, acknowledging that his post had been “unclear” and apologizing for “my words causing further pain.”
Tennessee Congressman Antonio Parkinson
Tennessee state Rep. Antonio Parkinson has been spreading conspiracy theories in the wake of the first assassination attempt on a U.S. presidential candidate in 43 years. Write on X“I really hope this isn’t an act, but…”
He provided no evidence to support his claim.
After the post went viral, with more than two million views, Parkinson retracted her harmful comments and condemned “all acts of violence and those who perpetrate them” in a series of follow-up tweets.
Tennessee Senator London Lamar
Another Volunteer State Democrat who revealed his poor taste in the wake of Trump’s shooting was state Sen. London Lamar, who blamed the assassination attempt on “the extremism of the MAGA Regime.” X’s deleted post.
Less than 90 minutes later, Lamar issued a lukewarm apology for the controversial post, posting a generic follow-up: “The public is hyper-aware right now about where our country is headed… and it should be.”
He called on voters who are “infuriated” by political violence to “head to the ballot box in November.”
Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam
Not wanting to add county officials to the list of ill-timed responses to what nearly became a national tragedy, Bethany Hallam, a city council member in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles south of Butler, offered a pointed remark.
“Wow, crime in Butler County is out of control,” Hallam sarcastically responded to a social media post about President Trump being shot, according to his Republican colleague Sam DeMarco.
DeMarco called on Hallam to resign. She later deleted her comments but criticised the online backlash over her earlier posts, saying, “Well, I deleted them because I realised I had no idea what went on and I shouldn’t say anything unless I know. Maybe you should give it a go sometime,” the local station said. WTA report.
DeMarco said her actions were “in extremely poor taste” and an “example of speech gone wrong and going too far.”
Jacqueline Marseau, Congressional Staff Member
The congressional staff of Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-Mississippi) thought she was making subtle Facebook posts. Filmed by SuperTalk Mississippi News She was a sarcastic anti-violence advocate, urging Crooks to “take shooting lessons.”
“Oh, that’s not what I said,” she added, trying to be cute.
The outlet captured screenshots of several other offensive posts before they were removed, including one suggesting the shooting was staged and one taunting, “Is this what hate speech has done to us?”
Her boss, Congressman Thompson, had previously proposed legislation to strip President Trump of Secret Service protection if he was convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison, but he swiftly fired the ruthless staffer.
“I’m glad the former president is safe. Thoughts and prayers go out to all involved,” he wrote to X.
Marsaw later told the local Natchez Democrat newspaper that she was “overwhelmed at the moment” and insisted that the offensive post was intended as a joke.
Missouri House Candidate Jess Piper
If an award were given to a public figure for the most outrageous response to the shooting of President Trump, Jess Piper, executive director of the left-wing advocacy group Blue Missouri and a candidate for the state House of Representatives, would be an obvious nominee.
Piper, a self-described “Dirt Road Democrat” from the Show Me State, expressed “horror” as he watched a Trump-supporting emergency doctor being interviewed after the rally.
Following this, I casually wondered whether such a doctor would disregard the Hippocratic Oath on a whim.
“Will they take care of illegal immigrants? Children who have been raped? Gay people? Transgender people?”
she X asked followersI’m completely serious.
Piper has not yet retracted his bizarre remarks, but later acknowledged in a separate post that “there are probably hundreds of thousands of doctors who identify as Republican,” adding, “But attending a rally in support of Trump? No way.”
