California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) joined other Democrats in mocking the idea of prayer in the wake of the mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis this week, noting that the children were praying at the time.
In a post on X, responding to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claim that “prayer works,”, Newsom said: “There children were literally praying as they got shot at,” implying that prayer does not work.
Democrats have long attacked the idea of offering “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families in the wake of mass shootings, arguing that political action is needed, particularly gun control legislation.
They have treated “thoughts and prayers” — a common expression of condolences — as a way of avoiding the legislative or constitutional measures that, they argue, would prevent mass shootings.
(In the Minneapolis case, for example, one commentator called for “red flag” laws that allow guns to be taken away from mentally ill people — except that Minnesota already has such laws in place, among other gun control measures.)
After the Minneapolis shooting, in which two children were killed and 17 people were wounded, Democrats went further, citing the fact that the children were at morning mass as proof that prayers do not work.
Liberal-turned-Trump supporter Batya Ungar-Sargon warned that Democrats were blaming the victims:
Newsom has a poor record on religious liberty. He banned most religious gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, and his ban on communal prayers in private homes was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The California governor has also advertised the availability of abortions in his state, subsidizing travel by people in pro-life states for the purpose of terminating pregnancies in California.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
