Kellyanne Conway suggests 'late-night comedians' promoting 'anti-religiosity' to blame for synagogue shooting, and Twitter's not having it
Kellyanne Conway’s press blitz Monday morning in the wake of this weekend’s tragedy in Pennsylvania is raising eyebrows.
Conway appeared on Fox & Friends, blaming “anti-religiosity” for Saturday’s attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue, which killed 11 people. The senior White House counselor to President Trump also called out “late-night comedians” for perpetuating such sentiment.
“The anti-religiosity in this country, that is somehow in vogue and funny to make fun of anybody of faith, to constantly be making fun of people who express religion, the late-night comedians, the unfunny people on TV shows, it’s always anti-religious,” Conway said on the Fox News morning show.
She continued, “And, remember, these people were gunned down in their place of worship, as were the people in South Carolina several years ago.” Conway was referencing the mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C., carried out by white supremacist Dylann Roof. He was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering nine people in the 2015 incident.
“And they were there because they’re people of faith, and it’s faith that needs to bring us together,” stated Conway. “This is no time to be driving God out of the public square. No time to be making fun of people.”
The Pittsburgh shooting marked the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors have filed hate-crime charges against Robert Bowers, a 46-year-old white man who surrendered to authorities after Saturday morning’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. Law enforcement officials told CNN that he had made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting and targeted Jews on social media.
Although Conway failed to discuss the growing issue of anti-Semitism in the United States, she praised President Trump for using such a phrase.
“He denounced anti-Semitism in all forms,” she said. “He called for the death penalty for this murder in Pittsburgh. … He said the word ‘anti-Semitism,’ ‘anti-Semite.’” The New York Times reported that Trump’s statement condemning anti-Semitism came at the urging of his Jewish daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In a separate interview with CNN, Conway once again praised the president’s response to the tragedy. “The president is trying to heal the country,” she emphatically stated.
Conway has been trending on Twitter all morning over her remarks.
As a non-religious person who enjoys comedy Kellyanne Conway can kiss my ass. How about y’all blame anti-Semites and white supremacists for domestic terrorism and not innocent people simply expressing their First Amendment rights.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) October 29, 2018
Kellyanne Conway literally just blamed the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on comedians making fun of religious people, rather than AR-15’s, crazed lunatics or the hateful bigoted rhetoric coming from the alt-right.
Should we blame 9/11 on Terrorist movies too?
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) October 29, 2018
KELLYANNE CONWAY JUST ALL LIVES MATTERED THE JEWS 2 DAYS AFTER AN ANTISEMITE MURDERED 11 OF THEM IN A SYNAGOGUE ON SHABBAT https://t.co/O2F5Cm4ahZ
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) October 29, 2018
Kellyanne Conway blames Pittsburgh shooting on “anti-religiosity” among late night comedians. No, really.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 29, 2018
Kellyanne Conway suggests that “the late-night comedians” and “the unfunny people on TV shows” are responsible for the deadliest anti-Semitic massacre in American history. pic.twitter.com/h4n86dpSs4
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) October 29, 2018
Man. Kellyanne Conway suggests the white supremacist Pittsburgh synagogue massacre of Jews and the white supremacist Charleston massacre of Black people happened because of “the anti-religiosity in this country,” as demonstrated by late-night comedians. https://t.co/9qa8JzQ4bx
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 29, 2018
More gaslighting from Kellyanne. https://t.co/sOleAWQ3fa
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 29, 2018
Make no mistake, Sarah Sanders will continue to sell the Kellyanne Conway spin from this morning. That the shooting in Pittsburgh was not a hate crime but rather an attack on all religion. This is the necessary dog whistle for Trump’s base and it’s a lie. #Gaslighting
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) October 29, 2018
Meanwhile, Conway’s lawyer-husband, George Conway, appeared to criticize the president for his response after the shooting. He tweeted an excerpt from a Washington Post opinion piece titled, “Let’s stop asking Trump for comfort after tragedies.”
“This president will never offer comfort, compassion or empathy to a grieving nation. It’s not in him. When questioned after a tragedy, he will always be glib and inappropriate. So I have a wild suggestion: Let’s stop asking him. His words are only salt in our wounds.” https://t.co/ULCCaNKa78
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) October 29, 2018
He also retweeted a message saying that Trump’s “enemy of the people” rhetoric regarding the press needs to stop.
This “enemy of the people” stuff has to stop, but it won’t. https://t.co/A6esEQSlDT
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 29, 2018
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