On ABC’s “The View,” host Whoopi Goldberg suggested that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was using the shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School to “demonize” the “transgender” community.
Audrey Haley, a 28-year-old biological female, who identified as a male, opened fire at the Christian school, killing three nine-year-old students and three adults. After searching her home, police found Hale’s manifesto and other places she planned to target. Officials plan to release the manifesto. Police killed Hale on the second floor of the school.
Hawley spoke on the Senate floor about the shooting, arguing it targeted Christians and urged it to be “condemned” as a “hate crime.”
“We must also tell the truth about what happened [Monday] in Nashville. This murderous rampage, this taking of innocent life, was a horrific crime, but more specifically it was a hate crime,” he said.
“A crime that, according to Nashville police, specifically targeted … the members of this Christian community, the members of this religious institution, its students, its educators, its employees…” he added.
Goldberg argued Hawley’s remarks were an attempt to “demonize” the transgender community.
“Okay, look, some people using this as an excuse to demonize the transgender community, I mean, crazy stuff. Is this once again … are we just ‘wee-ing’ in the wind?” Goldberg asked.
President Joe Biden received criticism for joking about Haley’s motive in the shooting.
Asked whether he agrees with the theory that Hale targeted Christians in the shooting, Biden told reporters from the White House South Lawn, “I have no idea.”
A reporter told Biden that Hawley believed the shooting was a hate crime against Christians, to which Biden said, “Well, I probably don’t then.”
“No, I’m joking,” he added. “I have no idea.”
Recently, Biden joked that he only made a public appearance following the shooting because he heard there would be ice cream.
“My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband,” Biden said from the White House’s East Room in his first public appearance after the shooting. “I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream,” he continued.
BREAKING: Fox News cuts to Joe Biden expecting him to speak on the Nashville shooting, instead finds him ranting about eating Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream.pic.twitter.com/6rJsFL2dAN
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 27, 2023
Police said Hale was a former student at the school and may have planned to target a local mall and family members but didn’t because of “too much security.”
