Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ spokeswoman was blasted online after she tweeted an image Monday suggesting “transphobes” should be gunned down hours after a woman who identified as transgender killed six people, including three young children inside a Nashville Christian school.
The GIF, taken from the 1980 film “Gloria,” tweeted by Josselyn Berry, Hobbs’ press secretary, showed actress Gena Rowlands wielding two pistols and was captioned “Us when we see transphobes.” It was posted Monday, even as the nation mourned the murders of three 9-year-old children and three adults, killed at the Presbyterian-run Covenant School in Music City by a 28-year-old woman who was then killed by heroic police.
Really? This is what your press secretary thinks about this tragedy. Fire her immediately. No other answer will be acceptable. pic.twitter.com/cAW3pdROsS
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 29, 2023
“Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist, Katie Hobbs’s Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” the Arizona Freedom Caucus said in a statement. “Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable. Josselyn Berry should be fired immediately.”
Berry, who had also earlier tweeted, “If you work in the progressive community and are transphobic, you’re not progressive,” took her Twitter account private as calls for her to be fired poured in.
Hobbs did not immediately respond to her spokeswoman’s action, but did convey her condolences to the families of those killed at the school.
Josselyn Berry tweeted an offensive GIF hours after the horrific school shooting in Nashville. (AZ Free News)
“My family and I are sending all our love to the families affected by the tragic news out of Nashville,” wrote Hobbs, whose election victory over Kari Lake last November is still being challenged in court. “I know parents all over the country are hugging their kids a little tighter tonight.”
Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh, who has led the fight to stop children from being subjected to chemical and surgical sex change procedures, also called for Berry to be sacked.
This is what @katiehobbs press secretary decided to tweet after a trans militant shut up a school. Any Republican would be fired for this in an instant. We’re done with the double standard. @joss_berry must be fired. https://t.co/eDw7Sol4Gk
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 29, 2023
“This is what @katiehobbs press secretary decided to tweet after a trans militant shut up a school,” Walsh tweeted. “Any Republican would be fired for this in an instant. We’re done with the double standard. @joss_berry must be fired.”
Twitter has cracked down on users in the wake of the school shooting, but its actions have been aimed at critics of the radical transgender community, not those within it. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak’s account was locked for simply tweeting that a pro-transgenderism group planned a “day of vengeance” and was conducting gun training, and podcast host Michael Knowles also had his account locked for quoting a Bible verse that says vengeance is for God alone, not mortals.