On Wednesday morning, a gunman identified as James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on a baseball field full of Republican lawmakers practicing for an upcoming charity game for disadvantaged children. GOP House Whip Rep. Steve Scalise was shot in the hip; two Capitol officers, who were acting as security detail, and a staffer for Rep. Roger Williams also suffered gunshot wounds.
Not long after the news broke, Left-wing Twitter erupted with some of the most partisan, vile hot-takes.
Open racist Tariq Nasheed jumped on Twitter to work in his usual “suspected white supremacist” angle. (Rumor has it Nasheed once classified his morning oatmeal as a “suspected white supremacist.”)
Politics writer and aspiring author Malcolm Harris sounded off: “If the shooter has a serious health condition then is taking potshots at the GOP house leadership considered self defense?”
Although Harris later changed his Twitter profile to falsely claim that he works at Vox.com, Red Alert Politic’s Ryan Girdusky grabbed a screenshot of the profile pre-edit, which revealed that Little, Brown and Co is publishing Harris’ forthcoming book, Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials.
Harris’ writing has been featured at The Washington Post, Salon and The New Republic, among other outlets.
In a now-deleted tweet, Harris also wrote: “Hearing ‘David Duke without the baggage’ Steve Scalise is stable, but a lot of Americans die from hospital errors so keep crossing your fing.”
A technology writer and former Talent Show blogger said it would be considered a “silver lining” if Republicans were indeed targeted and shot at.
A member of the deranged Trump #Resistance rejoiced that Rep. Scalise now “knows how the people feel who are terrified of losing healthcare.”
Another hot take: “I could care less for the Republican senator. Finally one of them got what they deserve.”
“If KKK support Steve [S]calise dies, the shooter deserves a holiday, true leadership. Now the [T]rumps, [K]ush & Miller need to be ‘transitioned,'” wrote another Twitter user.
It’s important to note that vitriol wasn’t the sole reaction here, of course. For instance, in a moving show of support for their colleagues, Democrats on the opposing baseball team took time to pray for the GOP members affected by the violence.