'The GOP doesn’t care': JD Vance lambasted for calling school shootings 'a fact of life'

06 September 2024

During a recent campaign event in Arizona, 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) commented on this week's school shooting in Winder, Georgia. Now, he's facing heavy criticism from elected officials, activists and gun violence survivors.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign tweeted the video of Vance's remarks, writing: "JD Vance responds to the deadly shooting in Georgia by saying school shootings are just 'a fact of life' and attacking common sense gun safety reform." The video has been viewed more than seven million times in less than 12 hours.

"I don't like this, I don't like to admit this, I don't like that this is a fact of life," Vance said, before calling for more enhanced security measures at schools across the country.

"I don’t want my kids to go to school in a place where they feel like you’ve got to have additional security, but that is increasingly the reality that we live in," he added.

"School shootings are a fact of life? My daughter Jaime's murder was a fact of life?" Tweeted Fred Guttenberg, who is the parent of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victim. "F— you @JDVance, you miserable pr--k. I can't wait to make your exit from having any say in our public safety a fact of life."

Several people pointed out that the Ohio senator called school shootings a "fact of life" while speaking behind bulletproof glass at his events — which the Secret Service has insisted on since the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life in July — and while security prevents those carrying firearms from attending.

"When shots were fired at Trump MAGA Republicans were furious... When shots are fired at students and teachers, MAGA Republicans: 'it's a fact of life' and 'We’ve got to deal with it,'" tweeted Never Trump conservative Matt Walton. "As a teacher I say this is bulls— and it's time for major change."

"The person making this remark gets to speak at these events where firearms are prohibited," attorney Bradley Moss observed.

Dr. Chris Fresch, who is a lecturer at the Bible College of South Australia, noted that as "an American living in Australia," school shootings were not a fact of life outside of the United States. He tweeted that "there are no security measures beyond gates, doors & staff."

"Active shooter drills? My kids have never heard of them," Fresch wrote. "There are solutions, but the GOP doesn’t care."

Brandon Wolf — a survivor of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida — also tore into Vance for his comments. He wrote that he "refuse[s] to believe that watching kids come out of school in body bags is a 'fact of life.'" He added that he "won’t tell parents who’ve buried their children that it’s just 'reality,'" and that "political cowards" have little more to offer than a "shrug."

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