In the week following the shooting at a Nashville Christian school in which six people, including three children, were murdered by a reportedly transgender shooter, some have accused President Joe Biden of an inappropriate focus on the transgender community and relative inattention to the Christian victims.
Friday, March 31 — four days after The Covenant School massacre — was commemorated as the “Transgender Day of Visibility,” for which Biden issued a presidential proclamation.
“I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people,” the proclamation reads.
In a separate statement, the president spoke against “MAGA extremists [who] are advancing hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families.”
When asked by a reporter on camera if he thinks Christians were targeted in the school shooting, Biden responded, “I have no idea.”
The reporter continued, “Josh Hawley believes they were. What do you say to that?”
Biden responded, smiling, “Well, I probably don’t then,” then quickly added, “No, I’m joking. I have no idea.”
In a statement sent to The Dallas Express, attorney and president of Texas Values Jonathan Saenz said, “What happened in Nashville was tragic. The loss of life, especially when young children are involved, is especially heartbreaking to me as a father.”
“What is apparent … is instead of looking at medical interventions such as gender modification surgeries, cross-sex hormones and the like … we look at providing compassionate care in the context of expanded mental health services to assist those suffering with gender dysphoria,” said Saenz.
While Biden has openly supported the transgender community, several public figures on the political right have accused him of not expressing solidarity with America’s Christian community, which was “targeted” in the Nashville shooting.
“While Joe Biden found time in the past week to remind us that trans people ‘shape our nation’s soul’ he’s yet to offer a single word of solace to Christians,” tweeted Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Donald Trump Jr. said, “I’ve seen exactly ZERO sympathy for the Christian children shot up by the trans sociopath this weekend from the Biden Admin … Instead, I’ve seen a lot of victim blaming and empathy for the sociopathy coming from a growing militant part of this community.”
“How did @JoeBiden react and respond to trans murderer of the #NashvilleNine [sic], including three nine year olds, adults and Christians?” wrote former Georgia Representative Vernon Jones (R). “By declaring national transgender day! Biden purposely ignores lgbtq committed hate crimes are on the rise!”
However, members of the transgender community have accused conservatives of feigning victimization to rile up their base.
“As a Christian, I find it offensive that they would leverage Christ’s teachings in such a heinous way against innocent people,” said transgender activist Charlotte Clymer on MSNBC.
“They’re not trying to fix the problem. They’re trying to weaponize it and exploit these senseless deaths,” Clymer explained. “Just for their own bottom line and the ballot box.”
One of the children murdered in The Covenant School shooting was Hallie Scruggs, daughter of Chad Scruggs, who currently serves as lead pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville and previously served as a pastor of Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
Last week, Park Cities Presbyterian held a prayer vigil in memory of Hallie Scruggs, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.