“We’ve Got to Deal with It,” Vance Faces Backlash for Calling School Shootings a ‘Fact of Life’
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The campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris sharply criticized Senator J.D. Vance after he described school shootings as a “fact of life” during a rally on Thursday. Speaking to a crowd of MAGA supporters in Phoenix, Vance addressed the grim reality of gun violence in schools.
“If these psychos are going to go after our kids, we’ve got to be prepared for it,” Vance told the rally, according to the Associated Press. “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.”
When pressed by a journalist about potential solutions to prevent school shootings, the Republican vice-presidential nominee dismissed stricter gun laws as ineffective and instead praised Congressional efforts to improve school security.
“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance acknowledged. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools. We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they’re not able.”
Vance’s remarks came in the wake of a tragic school shooting in Georgia, where a 14-year-old gunman killed two classmates and two teachers. Nine other people were injured, and both the shooter and his father now face murder charges.
Vance’s comments immediately sparked outrage on social media, with many condemning his framing of school shootings as an unavoidable reality. The backlash also led to criticism from conservatives over the Associated Press headline, resulting in the organization changing it.
By Thursday night, the Harris-Walz campaign joined the criticism, releasing a statement in response to Vance’s remarks. “Yesterday Vice President Harris said ‘it doesn’t have to be this way’ in response to another senseless school shooting,” the campaign stated. “Donald Trump and JD Vance think school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and ‘we have to get over it.’”
The Harris-Walz campaign underscored their stance on taking meaningful action to prevent gun violence, stating that the country can “take action” to keep children safe and prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands. “Donald Trump and JD Vance will always choose the NRA and gun lobby over our children. That is the choice in this election,” the campaign concluded.
