Five people were killed on Thursday afternoon when a gunman opened fire on the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, in what is being called a targeted attack by a 38-year-old man who apparently had a long-standing grudge against the newspaper. After years of vilifying and calling for attacks on the media, President Trump offered his “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and families on Twitter but later refused to comment to reporters waiting outside the White House.
One of the survivors of the shooting, Capital Gazette writer Selene San Felice later spoke with Anderson Cooper on CNN, recalling how she hid under a desk during the massacre and texted her parents that she loved them.
“I’ve heard that Pres. Trump sent his prayers. I’m not trying to make this political right? But we need more than prayers… I want your prayers but I want something else.”
Capital Gazette writer Selene San Felice says her life has been "shattered" after witnessing the attack pic.twitter.com/mUwVZBjpmo
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 29, 2018
“I don’t know what I want right now, but I’m gonna need more than a couple days news coverage and thought and prayers, because our whole lives have been shattered,” she told Cooper, regarding the president’s statement. “So thanks for your thoughts and prayers but I couldn’t give fuck about them if there’s nothing else.”
For most rational and empathetic people, it was a difficult interview to listen to for many obvious reasons. But for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, apparently the hardest part was having to suffer through a gun violence survivor saying the F-word on TV. Rubio tweeted the following early Friday morning:
Sign of our times… the F word is now routinely used in news stories, tweets etc It’s not even F*** anymore. Who made that decision???
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2018
Sign of our times indeed! I mean what is the world even coming to nowadays when a woman narrowly avoids being gunned down and then later forgets to censor herself on live TV while she’s clearly still in shock? Sign of our times!!
Not surprisingly, Rubio’s tweet didn’t go over so great on Twitter, as many piled on to ridicule him:
https://twitter.com/maxsparber/status/1012664402305155073
https://twitter.com/maxsparber/status/1012664930535813121
https://twitter.com/KrangTNelson/status/1012660789147205632
https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/1012662820071231488
Didn’t you publicly make a joke about Trump’s small cock?
“And you know what they say about guys with small hands”
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1012669236932759552
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1012681198013960193
Marco Rubio tackling the real pressing issues of our time, like who made the decision allowing us to say fuck. ::clutches pearls:: https://t.co/UBppw8TG4c
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/FederalistPitch/status/1012675219037851648
Obligatory fuck you to Marco Rubio. https://t.co/FofXmZWm2a
— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) June 29, 2018
Others just pointed out the latent hypocrisy of the tweet after yesterday’s tragedy — especially given Rubio’s chumminess with the NRA:
Senator who has taken more than $3 million from the @NRA is upset a gun violence victim used the word “fuck” after she was shot at by a convicted stalker who had easy access to a gun. https://t.co/4Xnk6aeARx
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 29, 2018
Rubio has tweeted at least four swipes at the press within the past 24 hour and has not tweeted about the Capital Gazette once. pic.twitter.com/edxrBvVNVH
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) June 29, 2018
Five journalists gunned down and killed yesterday in cold blood, and this is Sen. Rubio’s concern about the press this morning. https://t.co/iG7ivYg3Qa
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/bdgrabinski/status/1012657213008015360
In the wake of the Parkland massacre, Rubio took to Twitter to complain that the gun control debate has “infected the next generation” in regards to student protests. Always a class act, this guy.