Families of school shooting victims are calling out Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for saying that God protected former President Donald Trump in the assassination attempt against him.
After Rubio posted a photo of Trump with a bloody ear and his fist raised on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption “God protected Trump,” several family members of school shooting victims responded to it, calling out the hypocrisy.
“God did not protect my cousin Alex from being murdered in his English classroom in Parkland with an AR15,” wrote Samuel Schwartz, whose cousin Alex Schachter was killed in the 2018 school shooting that killed 17 people in Florida.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, joined Schwartz, writing on X, “Hey [Rubio], are you saying that God did not protect my daughter and the other 16 killed who you represented in Parkland. Wow!!!”
Gloria Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was killed in the 2022 Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, replied to Rubio’s post, writing, “So, are you saying that God didn’t protect my daughter, my niece, 17 of their classmates and their two teachers? ??? Please explain.”
Trump was wounded after a gunman attempted to assassinate the former president on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. One person attending the rally was killed and several more were injured. The gunman was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, and he was killed on the scene by law enforcement officers.
During a 2022 debate, Rubio said that background checks and age restrictions on gun purchases don’t work. That stance came after he told Parkland survivors that he would support such measures.