Desantis and Haley have lost their way
Ron Desantis and Nikki Haley have lost their way. At Perry High School in Iowa this month, 17-year-old Dylan Butler shot and killed a sixth-grader, wounded five other students and staff, and then killed himself. Surely, the Republican presidential candidates discussed the tragedy during their debate in Des Moines last week, right?
Wrong. Neither said a word about a school shooting that had happened days earlier and barely 40 miles away.
Anyone still searching for a meaningful difference between today’s Democratic Party and the GOP need only take note of their very different reactions to this latest tragedy.
Deadly shootings, even in our schools, are an inevitable feature of our daily lives — according to the Republican Party. In comments and appearances before the debate, the leading GOP candidates all reacted to the Perry shooting by washing their hands of any duty to act. And, of course, by offering thoughts and prayers.
Desantis, the Florida governor, said during an interview with NBC News and the Des Moines Register that while officials have a responsibility to guarantee safety at our schools, the federal government “is probably not going to be leading that effort.” As though to underscore the point, he later said, according to Reuters, that as president he would sign a bill eliminating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Haley posted her condolences on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the shooting, saying in part that, “My heart aches for the victims of Perry, Iowa and the entire community.”
Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump — who trounced all other comers in Monday’s Iowa caucuses — addressed school violence during a campaign stop the day after the deadly shooting. The callousness was breathtaking, even for Trump.
“I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa,” he said in Sioux City. “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it, we have to move forward.”
Get over it. Imagine the comfort that brought to the family of 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, who was killed in the shooting. Or the school’s principal, Dan Marburger, who has since died from his injuries.
The Republican Party’s lack of empathy after a tragedy such as this gives the country a real chance to see why that matters for our country’s leadership — and what a real difference the Democrats offer.
The day after Republicans’ dismal debate, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a middle school in Charlotte, N.C., to join a roundtable discussion on gun violence with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. That’s where she announced the administration’s plan to invest a new round of funding ($285 million) for schools to find and train mental health professionals, per a White House official.
Harris shared her reaction to the Perry shooting on X the day it occurred, highlighting some of the proposals Democrats have been trying to pass:
“As we begin a new year, we must resolve to finally end this epidemic of gun violence that has become the leading cause of death for children in America. We know the solutions: making background checks universal, passing red flag laws, and renewing the assault weapons ban. Now, Congress and state legislators across the country must have the courage to act.”
The measures the vice president advocates, backed almost universally by Democratic officials and candidates, have overwhelming public support, according to poll after poll. But they are rejected and blocked by Republicans, who fall over themselves to avoid even talking about the one element that is common to all mass shootings: the gun. What distinguishes the United States from other developed countries, where gun violence is less common by orders of magnitude, is easy access to firearms of all kinds — including weapons designed for military combat.
But Republicans continue to find excuses. To avoid talking about guns, some on the far right are even making the bizarre claim — unsupported by any facts — that people who identify as LGBTQ+ are somehow more likely to commit mass shootings. “Per capita is there a more violent group of people anywhere in the world than radicalized trans activists???” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X. And the platform’s owner, billionaire Elon Musk, responded to a different provocateur’s post about “the radicalization of LGBTQ youth” by agreeing: “This is happening a lot. Something is deeply wrong.”
Good lord. What is deeply wrong is the refusal by Republicans to do anything that might actually reduce gun violence and save innocent lives. If that is something you care about, vote in November to give Democrats the power to act.