Politics

Media Mocks ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ For Shooting Victims, Democrats Don’t Offer Them

Democratic presidential candidate Clinton addresses the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Summer Meeting in Minneapolis
Derek Hunter Contributor
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Whenever there is a great loss of life — be it in tragedy, terrorist attack, accident — it’s standard for politicians across the political spectrum to take to social media to offer “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. Curiously, that was not the case in the San Bernardino shooting Wednesday.

The GOP presidential field did offer their thoughts and prayers on social media to those impacted by the mass shooting, but Democrats didn’t. And, for the first time, so-called “mainstream” journalists, progressive activists and Hollywood types mocked the GOP for doing so.

It’s a rather curious development considering offering prayers for those lost and who’ve lost is, or at least was, one of the least controversial statements a politician can make. But none of the Democrats running for president did it.

Hillary Clinton did tweet about the shooting, but it was an angry tweet about guns, not the victims.

However, in the past, Hillary was quick to offer prayers.

In the immediate aftermath of the Charleston, South Carolina shooting by racist Dylann Roof:

After the tragic earthquake in Nepal:

And after the trampling of pilgrims in Mecca:

Even after the ISIS attack in Paris:

But nothing about prayers after San Bernardino.

Hillary wasn’t alone in this shift away from offering prayers. Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy mocked the concept:

Yet after the Newtown shooting, Murphy welcome the prayers of his colleagues:

And after the Charleston massacre:

And even to residents of the republic of Georgia when they suffered flooding:

The left-wing Huffington Post did not beat around the bush on the “thoughts and prayers” issue.

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In a piece, HuffPo senior politics editor Sam Stein wrote:

Public officials are the people society trusts to solve society’s ills. Like, say, gun violence. But every time multiple people have been gunned down in a mass shooting, all these officials can seemingly do is rush to offer their useless thoughts and prayers.

In the past, however, HuffPo sang a different tune:

Even Stein himself, even though he mocked it in the wake of San Bernardino, has a history of offering “thoughts and prayers:”

As if it were coordinated, progressives and left-wing journalists who work at outlets routinely cited by mainstream sources started teeing off on the concept of offering prayer for victims.

The New York Daily News even got on board:

The Washington Post:

Think Progress:

Even music journalist:

The Washington Post again:

Even Hollywood got into the act:

The literary world:

The Guardian:

Vice:

Thanks to Sean Davis for gathering many of these tweets.