As news broke of the devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, politicians immediately tweeted their “thoughts and prayers” – a phrase that amounts to nothing more than platitudes and doesn’t get down to the real issue: gun violence in the United States. Though Senator Marco Rubio didn’t use these words in the aftermath of the shooting that left at least 17 dead, he was criticized for saying that “today is that terrible day you pray never comes.”
He later told Fox News, “[We don’t know] who this person is, what motivated them, how did they get a hold of the weapon that they used for this attack. I think it’s important to know all of that before you jump to conclusions that there’s some law we could have passed that could have prevented it. There may be, but shouldn’t we at least know the facts?”
People quickly reminded him that as someone in the National Rifle Association’s pocket (Rubio has received more than $3 million from the pro-gun group in his career), he played a role in the tragedy that unfolded on Wednesday. The events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School ranks as one of the deadliest school shootings in the country’s history. So while Rubio – who earned an A+ from the NRA – is busy trying to deflect attention from the real issue at hand (he also told Fox News that now isn’t the time to discuss gun control), people have homed in on the hypocrisy of his comments.
Here’s what Twitter had to say about Rubio’s response.