Republicans should be able to connect the dots between their dangerous rhetoric and targeted mass shootings. Donald Trump's anti-Latino rants came before the deadliest anti-Latino shooting in US history, and now, following the party's anti-LGBTQ+ campaign, there has been a deadly shooting at a gay club. "Thoughts and prayers" aren't good enough and don't excuse the rhetoric that helps cause these events.
When an LGBTQ+ community is targeted, hypocritical outcries from Democrats inevitably follow. Yet again, the party in charge of the country's most crime-ridden cities is unashamedly blaming Republicans for a shooting, yet they stay silent when dozens of people are murdered weekly in their own jurisdictions. They care about human lives when it's politically convenient but not when their own constituents are the victims.