At least 50 people lost their lives Sunday in a mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub, marking the worst mass shooting by a lone gunman in United States history at a time when the country is more divided than ever on the issues of terrorism, gun control and LGBT rights.
Amid an intense and fiery presidential election in which the above issues are central to the agenda of each candidate, teleSUR looks at five reactions to the Orlando shooting that should, put simply, never have happened.
1. Donald Trump's "I Told You So" Moment
Just a few hours after the Orlando nightclub massacre, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted a series of tweets commenting on the attack in what many see as the political exploitation of one of the U.S.’s biggest ever tragedies.
In one tweet he wrote: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance."
Early on Sunday, when very few facts were known about the shooting, he boasted on Twitter that the incident proved he had been right about his warnings over "radical Islamic terrorism," before reiterating his call for a ban on all Muslims from entering the United States.
After a press conference by President Barack Obama on the incident, Trump said Obama is weak and should resign. He ripped Obama apart for his refusal to equate the Islamic State group and other extremist groups as part representative of the religion of Islam.
"In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words 'Radical Islam.' For that reason alone, he should step down," Trump said, adding that, "if Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'Radical Islam' she should get out of this race for the presidency."
2. Texas Politician's "They Had It Coming" Bible Verse
The office of Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican and evangelical Christian, deleted a tweet Sunday which was sent out shortly after the deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Florida.
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows," read the Bible verse sent out by Patrick on his official Twitter account a few hours after the shooting that left at least 50 dead.
Patrick is known for his strong objection to same-sex marriage and years of fighting against LGBT rights.
But the disturbing tweet did not go unnoticed. “You are a disgrace to your state in this time of national sorrow. You should resign," prominent LGBT activist George Takei wrote on Twitter.
The Texas Democratic Party called on Patrick to apologize immediately. "Make this right. We are better than this," it said in a statement.
3. Turkish Paper Gloating That "Perverts Homosexuals" Killed
A conservative Turkish newspaper known for its support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan published several headlines on the Orlando attack, referring to those dead as “pervert homosexuals” in what many suggest was a celebratory reaction.
“Death toll rises to 50 in bar where perverts homosexuals go!” the newspaper's headline read Sunday morning just hours after the attack.
The newspaper is known for its negative articles and opinions on minorities such as Jews, Christians and Armenians as well as members of the LGBT community.
The paper has also been criticized by Turkish social media users and journalists over a recent column praising al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front group in Syria.
“[A] Day after Erdogan mentioned Al Nusra positively, his favorite paper openly praises A.Qaida tied group/What more [to] come,” Turkish analyst and journalist Ilhan Tanir wrote in a tweet Sunday along with a link to the article from Yeni Akit.
4. U.S. Republicans: What Gays?!
The Orlando shooter’s father told reporters that his son Omar Mateen became angry when he witnessed two men kissing in Miami few months ago.
Despite the possible homophobic motive behind the attack, U.S. Republican lawmakers sent out “thoughts and prayers” messages on social media and made statements that seemed to completely avoid any mention of the LGBT community in the U.S. or make any reference to the fact that a popular gay bar was targeted.
Think Progress website had a long list of tweets from more than a dozen U.S. Congress members to show how there was no mention of the LGBT community. The trend was also highlighted by several other outlets in the country.
5. U.S. Republicans Blame Islam, Not Guns
Another disturbing trend by Republicans was the fact that almost all of them chose to exclusively blame the attack on “radical Islam” and home-grown “Islamist extremism” while ignoring the fact that the shooter had easy access to large guns and explosives due to loose gun control laws in the U.S.
Most Republican lawmakers reject any gun-control laws due to financial interests with weapon manufacturers and lobbyists.
In fact the same gun used by Omar Mateen, an AR-15 assault rifle, was used in the infamous Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children aged between 6 and 7 years old.
The same gun was also used in the July 20, 2012 mass shooting which took place at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people.
Many on social media said government officials should not use the Muslim background of the shooter to ignore and dismiss the debate on gun control in the United States. “Yet Another Mass Shooting, but because a Muslim is involved certain people will prefer to ban Muslims from America instead of guns,” Eliot Higgins, British investigative journalist and researcher said in a tweet Sunday.
