WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-K.Y., is facing backlash from Democrats after posting a Christmas photo on Saturday of his family smiling and posing with an assortment of guns, just days after four teenagers were killed in a shooting at a Michigan high school.
“Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo,” Massie wrote on Twitter.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, was charged last Tuesday in the deadly school shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, Michigan, which killed four people and left seven others seriously wounded. Investigators allege that Crumbley began shooting after he left a bathroom and that he remained in the school’s hallway until he was detained.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said last week that eighteen live, unfired rounds were found after Crumbley was detained. Police found seven in his pocket, and 11 more were discovered later in a magazine.
Rep. John Yarmuth, D-K.Y., who chairs the House Budget Committee, condemned Massie’s post.
“I’m old enough to remember Republicans screaming that it was insensitive to try to protect people from gun violence after a tragedy,” Yarmuth wrote on Twitter, referring to prior calls for tougher gun control laws.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., tweeted: “I’m pro second amendment, but this isn’t supporting right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who has recently made headlines for her Islamophobic comments towards Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appeared to support Massie’s post.
“That’s my kind of Christmas card!,” Boebert tweeted.
Several other Democrats also condemned the post, including Reps. Katherine Clark, Mass., and Haley Stevens, Mich., who called the post a “sickness.”
“Aren’t we in the season of peace and goodwill? What a repulsive, violent message especially in a week when we lost 4 students to gun violence in Michigan. Instead of wishing for ammo, how about working for gun safety so all our kids can be home for the holidays?,” Clark tweeted.