The Orlando nightclub shooting has fueled debates concerning violence against the LGBT community, terrorism, and gun control. This past Thursday, President Obama visited Orlando and called on politicians to institute gun control measures to prevent another tragedy like this from happening. After getting wind of this, Sarah Palin took to Facebook to call Obama “stupid” and denounce his “twisted anti-Second Amendment mission.”
The entire Facebook post is above and links to an article from the Independent Journal Review about Obama’s visit. After bringing flowers to the site of the shooting in honor of the victims, Obama addressed Congress directly about gun control issues:
“I hope that Senators who voted ‘no’ on background checks after Newtown have a change of heart. And then I hope the House does the right thing and helps to end the plague of violence that these weapons of war inflict on so many young lives.”
Senate Democrats have echoed Obama’s call, with Senator Chris Murphy leading a 15-hour filibuster, forcing Republican colleagues to agree to hold a vote on universal background checks and banning people on the no-fly list from purchasing firearms. That there has been a backlash to all of this is not surprising, including from someone like Sarah Palin.
Beyond screaming that “OBAMA IS A SPECIAL KIND OF STUPID,” Palin rants against the president for supposedly downplaying the terrorist aspect of this tragedy:
Exploiting a sick, evil, ideological-driven attack on Americans to further your twisted anti-Second Amendment mission is disgusting. Today you’re demanding an “explanation” from law abiding gun owners, but not demanding the same from followers of Islam, the religion behind this terror?
If the demented Orlando terrorist doesn’t represent all Islamic followers, then why do you insinuate he represents all gun owners?
Palin is obviously in her buddy Donald Trump’s camp that Obama should constantly label the shooting as an act of “Islamic terrorism.” While he has not qualified this act of terrorism with the shooter’s religion, he has referred to it as “an act of terror and hate.” Yet Obama also recognizes that there are other aspects to this tragedy that need to be addressed. One aspect is how easy it is to get a gun in the United States, whether you’re a terrorist or not.