It’s only seven weeks into 2018, yet yesterday marked the 18th school shooting in the United States. The terrorist attack mass shooting that afflicted Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was the eighth fatal shooting this year alone, according to The Guardian. While mass school shootings seem to be a common trend in recent U.S. history, an even more prevalent trend has been running rampant. Every time a new school shooting makes headlines, politicians notoriously use their social media accounts to tweet and posts pseudo-sympathetic message that their “thoughts and prayers” are with the victims and their families; however, these politicians are finally getting called out on their contradicting messages.
A recent op-ed published by The New York Times, shows the top tweets posted by various politicians, who also happen to receive healthy contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA). The opinion piece lists members of the Senate and House who eagerly express their condolences for gun violence victims.
Some notorious names made the list, from Arizona Senator John McCain to Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. However, Florida’s own Senator, Marco Rubio, also made the list for graciously accepting over three million dollars from the NRA.
However, Rubio (along with Florida Governor Rick Scott) received backlash from this new revelation. After the tragic shooting near Parkland, Florida took 17 lives and injured over a dozen others, Rubio took to Twitter to say, “Today is that terrible day you pray never comes.”
Just spoke to Broward School Superintendent. Today is that terrible day you pray never comes.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 14, 2018
During an interview with Fox News, Rubio declined to speak about gun control, “because people know how this [shooting] happened.”
Granted, several publications, including CNN and USA Today, seem to have outstanding evidence as to how the shooting happened. Nevertheless, Twitter users were swift to call Rubio out on his empty tweet. “Marco Rubio has faced no political pushback from constituents for his NRA-friendliness, despite 3 mass shootings in his state. Tell him so,” one user wrote.
Marco Rubio has faced no political pushback from constituents for his NRA-friendliness, despite 3 mass shootings in his state. Tell him so. https://t.co/HkomPFjlPi
— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) February 15, 2018
While Twitter users are taking a stand against Rubio’s inconsistent messages, The Hill reports that a writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is also using her platform to urge lawmakers to do something about gun violence.
After the most recent school shooting, Bess Kalb Tweeted, “This is not a political issue. This is not a Constitutional debate. This is a pandemic that’s killing children. And it’s perpetrated by hypocrites who preach a doctrine of “life” but take money from a profit-driven gun lobby. @RoyBlunt @SenatorBurr @SenThomTillis @SenCoryGardner.” While certain lawmakers might not agree with Kalb or the other thousands of Twitter users who are advocating for gun control, most U.S. citizens actually want stronger gun laws.
This is not a political issue. This is not a Constitutional debate. This is a pandemic that’s killing children. And it’s perpetrated by hypocrites who preach a doctrine of “life” but take money from a profit-driven gun lobby. @RoyBlunt @SenatorBurr @SenThomTillis @SenCoryGardner
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) February 14, 2018
Although a recent survey done by Gallup shows that most U.S. citizens want stronger gun laws, lawmakers still accept this money from the NRA — rather than actually listening to their constituents. Hopefully, lawmakers will start to do more than show their solace and actually do something about the school shooting epidemic, beyond just sending their “thoughts and prayers.”