We’re used to seeing Twitter users politicize gun violence against President Donald Trump.
This week’s tragic shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper which left five employees dead sparked two more Twitter attacks from very different sources.
The first? Reuters global editor Rob Cox claimed Trump had “blood on his hands” moments after the shooting, assuming Trump’s harsh rhetoric against a biased press sparked the attack. The shooter’s motivations, as we soon learned, had nothing to do with the president or his fight against fake news aimed at him on a near-daily basis.
Cox, to his credit, immediately apologized. Sadly, Cox proved Trump’s point with his initial, factually incorrect tweet all the same.
That isn’t how James Gunn treated the news. The director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise also pinned the blame for the attack on Trump. Again and again and again.
His Twitter timeline contains a robust and completely fact-free assault on the president’s connection to the attack. Even after the shooter’s motivations were made crystal clear Gunn persisted.
Here’s just a sample:
THREE DAYS AGO Donald Trump, the President of the United States, pointed at the press during a rally & called them “the enemy of the people.” The blood of those reporters is on Trump’s hands, far more than Milo Yiannopoulos or anyone else.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 28, 2018
Just imagine if Trump had said “the Jews are the enemy of the people.” But he says it about the PRESS and his supporters are okay with it.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 28, 2018
The mass-shooter who shot the press today, three days after Trump called the press “the enemy of the people,” was a Trump fan. Trump has used his position to continuously lie about and vilify the press. The blood of those people is most definitely on his hands. pic.twitter.com/atfQIWwW14
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 29, 2018
The shooter didn’t appear to be motivated by any political posture. (More fake news, for those keeping score.)
That won’t stop Gunn, though. In fact, this isn’t the first time he went off the rails on Twitter to target Trump. A few months ago he repeatedly played the Hitler card against the freely elected leader. That’s become common from Hollywood heavyweights today, when they’re not wishing for his death or simply cursing him out at public events.
Stars routinely weaponize shootings to blast the GOP and NRA. Now, some big names are changing gears, focusing their sights on President Trump following tragic headlines. And they won’t let facts get in the way of their mission.
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