In the aftermath of the unbelievably tragic domestic terrorism that occurred in Uvalde, Texas, most of America is grieving and asking questions. Many wonder how long it will be until the government passes meaningful gun legislation on a federal level. There have been several proposals for stricter background checks and reenacting the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that expired under President George W. Bush, among other proposals.
Instead of doing anything of value, most of the Republican Party has spent the time blaming everything under the Sun for the tragedy—except for guns. At the national convention for the NRA, (which happened in Texas only a few days after the mass shooting), the GOP’s big “fix” was … reducing the number of doors on public buildings. Of course, right-wing talking head Candace Owens had to chime in with her own appalling take on the situation.
Owens is well known for her terrible theories that men can’t wear dresses, COVID-19 was a hoax, and racism doesn’t exist. So, it should surprise no one that she brought an unfounded conspiracy theory to her show at The Daily Wire. Here is what she said:
Think about how weird it is. We’re all being shown just one picture of this shooter. And the media came out and they instantly said, “This guy was not trans. The right-wing talking point is that this guy was a transgendered person and that’s a lie.” Right? They came out and they attacked me. They said that I shared or was referencing a false photo of a different trans person. That never happened. I never shared a single photo of this shooter. I saw images that were circulating all over the web, even the one image that they show – you see him pursing his lips, standing to the side.
As the shooting unfolded, right-wing social media started circulating a malicious rumor that the shooter was transgender. However, the mainstream media debunked that almost immediately. In fact, the photo they circulated was a completely different person. There is zero evidence from anything the shooter posted online, or people who knew the shooter, that he ever considered himself transgender. But instead of apologizing or simply dropping the issue, Owens doubled down:
Let’s not talk about any of the symptoms leading up to all of the glaring, obvious signs that this person was, perhaps, mentally unstable because right now, we’re living in a society where we have accepted the narrative that men can become women and women can be men.
Somehow, Republicans Always Make It Worse
Again, instead of this being a gun issue, Owens is trying to blame something else entirely. She tried to link domestic terrorism to gender issues, rather than weapons of war being readily available for anyone who has the cash—as if the transgender community didn’t have enough to deal with. With continual Republican legislation barring them from sports or just trying to exist, now they are falsely being pinpointed as possible mass shooters.
Let’s be clear: In the multitudes of mass shootings in America, none of the shooters have claimed to be transgender. Conversely, most mass shooters are cisgender men. And most of those men are white. Seeing as most of the Republican Party (and the NRA) is composed of white men, it makes sense they are trying to get the focus off of themselves. Yet, accusing a marginalized community to make yourself feel better—not to mention garner support from like-minded hateful bigots looking for any reason is beyond disgusting.
(feature image: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
