“The View” host Joy Behar drew a straight line on Tuesday from the Saturday night shooting at a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s 2021 Christmas photo.
Behar was discussing the shooting — which took place at Club Q, an LGBTQ establishment — with Colorado’s Democrat Governor Jared Polis, who is the nation’s first openly gay governor. Her argument was that whatever else set mass shootings apart from each other, the one thing they all had in common was the gun.
WATCH:
"Really makes me nuts!"
Joy Behar blames Congresswoman Lauren Robert's 2021 pro-Second Amendment Christmas cards for the shooting at the gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last weekend. "That's a very bad message to send to people, especially to children." pic.twitter.com/6j2fzIasWe— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) November 22, 2022
“Well, the one thing, Governor, that all these things have in common is the gun,” Behar asserted, adding, “The guns, I mean, they all have those AR-15s.”
“Lauren Boebert, the congresswoman in your state, posts pictures — Christmas pictures of her and her husband and her kids holding these guns,” Behar continued. “That’s a very bad message to send to people, especially to children, but that’s my own little aside here because that really makes me nuts.”
Boebert posted the photo in question in response to Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY), who had shared an image of his very well-armed family sitting by their Christmas tree.
“Merry Christmas!” the tweet read. “p.s. Santa, please bring ammo.”
Merry Christmas! 🎄
ps. Santa, please bring ammo. 🎁 pic.twitter.com/NVawULhCNr— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 4, 2021
Boebert responded with a since-deleted tweet showing her own family posing in a similar fashion by their own tree.
“The Boeberts have your six, @RepThomasMassie,” she said, adding, “(No spare ammo for you though).”
Lauren Boebert’s latest stunt is posing with her young children holding semi-automatic rifles in front of a Christmas tree. She stole the idea from another GOP congressman who pulled the same stunt the other day. It’s not only sacrilegious, it’s also kind of nuts. pic.twitter.com/oemgiiDHtp
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) December 8, 2021
Both Massie and Boebert were immediately attacked on Twitter by users accusing them of promoting or even inspiring more gun violence. Some even drew comparisons to militant Islamist groups.
— The USA Singers (@TheUSASingers) December 8, 2021
Fellow Congressman John Yarmuth (D-KY) lashed out at his colleague in a series of tweets, saying, “I promise not everyone in Kentucky is an insensitive a**hole.”
I’m old enough to remember Republicans screaming that it was insensitive to try to protect people from gun violence after a tragedy. Now they openly rub the murder of children in our faces like they scored a touchdown. Disgraceful.
— Rep. John Yarmuth (@RepJohnYarmuth) December 4, 2021
“I’m old enough to remember Republicans screaming that it was insensitive to try to protect people from gun violence after a tragedy,” Yarmuth continued. “Now they openly rub the murder of children in our faces like they scored a touchdown. Disgraceful.”
Parkland father and gun control advocate Fred Guttenberg responded to Massie as well, likening his family to the family of the school shooter who had rocked Michigan just days earlier.
.@RepThomasMassie, since we are sharing family photos, here are mine. One is the last photo that I ever took of Jaime, the other is where she is buried because of the Parkland school shooting.
The Michigan school shooter and his family used to take photos like yours as well. pic.twitter.com/MsQWneJXAp
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) December 4, 2021
“@RepThomasMassie, since we are sharing family photos, here are mine. One is the last photo that I ever took of Jaime, the other is where she is buried because of the Parkland school shooting. The Michigan school shooter and his family used to take photos like yours as well,” he said.