Minnesota Gov Tim Walz strongly criticized Ohio Sen JD Vance's recent remarks about school shootings during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington, DC, on Saturday, according to USA Today.
"It's a fact of life that some people are gay," Walz said. "But you know what's not a fact of life? Our children being shot dead in schools."
Walz was responding to comments Vance made Thursday at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, where the senator called school shootings a "fact of life" and advocated for increased school security measures. Vance's remarks came one day after a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that left four people dead and injured eight students and one teacher.
"I don't like that this is a fact of life," Vance had said. "But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools."
Speaking to approximately 3,500 attendees at the HRC dinner, Walz highlighted his and Vice President Kamala Harris' records on LGBTQ+ rights. He noted that Harris was among the country's first officials to officiate same-sex marriages.
Walz also shared his personal experience as a high school teacher in Minnesota, where he served as the faculty advisor for his school's first gay-straight alliance club in 1999. He mentioned that one of the students who helped start the alliance, Jacob Reitan, was present at the dinner. "It's easy to be an ally, what really matters is knowing who's going to be at your side to stand up when it's hard," Walz said.
Throughout his speech, Walz repeatedly criticized Vance and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He accused the Trump administration of inaction on issues like childhood poverty and childcare costs. "They didn't do anything on lowering childcare costs," Walz said, before referencing a recent Trump proposal to use tariffs to fund childcare. "Did you hear? He's got a plan on childcare costs that no one in the world understood a damn word about."
Here's Colin Gray, the father of the Apalachee High School shooter, at his first court appearance after being charged with murder in Georgia.
He's facing up to 180 years in prison for giving his son the AR-platform gun to use in the shooting.
Good!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/FKytbTVGBJ
— Art Candee
(@ArtCandee) September 6, 2024
While criticizing the Republican ticket, Walz emphasized the importance of Democrats running on a concrete plan rather than simply hoping for victory. He outlined several policy goals, including lowering taxes for working families, enacting family and medical leave, and passing the Equality Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
"You look around this room, you can feel hope. We hope we win this election. We hope we pass these laws. We hope we lift people out of poverty," Walz said. "But my wife always reminds me of this, it's not a damn plan. It's not a plan to hope we win this election. We've got to have a plan. We've got to work for it," he added.
