UNEXPECTEDLY: The Nashville school shooting brings out the worst in our media.
ABC’s Terry Moran noted the passage of Tennessee’s legislation during his live report, as a possible and thus far speculative motive. New York Times and NBC News contributor Benjamin Ryan, in a since deleted tweet, noted that Nashville “is home to the Daily Wire, a hub of anti-trans activity by @MattWalshBlog, @BenShapiro and @MichaelJKnowles.”
Several other outlets, including NPR, the New York Times and USA Today took time to correct Nashville law enforcement for previously misgendering the mass shooter and not using “his” desired pronouns. Prior to the confirmation of the shooter’s identity, the Washington Post, also in a since deleted tweet, wrote “GOP congressman from Nashville district ‘heartbroken’ by shooting. A 2021 photo shows his family with firearms.”
This sorry display bears hallmarks of the reaction to the 2017 congressional baseball field shooting by James Hodgkinson, a Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer and avid MSNBC viewer. Shortly after that attack, host Joy Reid attempted to vilify House representative Steve Scalise as he was fighting for his life. “It’s a delicate thing because, obviously everybody is wishing the congressman well and hoping that he recovers. But Steve Scalise has a history that we’ve all been forced to sort of ignore on race.” The trope that coursed through the liberal media was that while the shooting was tragic, because of the politics of the people being shot at, they kind of deserved it.