Dem Governor's Press Secretary Out of a Job Days After 'Un-American' Tweet in Wake of Covenant School Shooting
In the spotlight of a school shooting, liberals are always at their worst.
From the traditional knee-jerk response of “more gun control,” to the equally predictable insults to religion and “thoughts and prayers,” the special kind of tragedy involved in the deaths of children brings out the most boorish, offensive and arrogant side of the most boorish, offensive and arrogant people in politics.
Even in that unpleasant field, Josselyn Berry stood out — and for once, someone is paying the consequences.
The press secretary for Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has resigned after sparking an uproar hours after the murders of three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, by a woman who claimed to be transgender.
Berry published a Twitter post that included a photo of an armed woman, captioned with an implied threat to shoot “transphobes” — that is, anyone, left or right, who does not accept the most extreme transgender propaganda.
For even a run-of-the-mill leftist, the kind who thinks Stephen Cobert is funny, it was idiotic in the context of a school shooting where children had been killed. For a woman whose livelihood is supposed to depend on her ability to convey “messaging” to the public, it bordered on insane.
The tweet has been deleted — and Berry’s Twitter account locked — but conservatives in Arizona were quick to call it out, very much including Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor who is still waging a court fight over Arizona’s November election disaster.
“If a conservative made light of a mass shooting & called for more violence, they’d be personally & professionally destroyed. But a member of Katie Hobbs’ staff did just that & the media is silent,” Lake wrote.
“We don’t partake in cancel culture — but the media’s bias has never been clearer.”
If a conservative made light of a mass shooting & called for more violence, they’d be personally & professionally destroyed.
But a member of Katie Hobbs’ staff did just that & the media is silent.
We don’t partake in cancel culture – but the media’s bias has never been clearer. pic.twitter.com/UwUk7AMPZU
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 29, 2023
Lake was far from alone.
The Arizona Freedom Caucus, a group of state lawmakers pushing a conservative agenda, also sounded off — demanding that Berry be “fired immediately.”
Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist @katiehobbs’ Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with.
Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable.@joss_berry should be fired immediately pic.twitter.com/wYHHkmsNNE
— Arizona Freedom Caucus (@AZFreedomCaucus) March 29, 2023
“Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist @katiehobbs’ Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” the caucus tweeted.
“Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable.”
Well, Berry wasn’t “fired immediately,” but she is no longer with the governor.
According to KTVK-TV in Phoenix, Berry resigned her position overnight Tuesday, leaving a position she has held only since after the November election.
The move must come as a surprise to the national media, which ignored or downplayed Berry’s tweet — the liberal HuffPost, one of the few that actually covered it, used its headline to call Berry’s post a “Trans-Rights Gun Meme.” (That’s kind of like calling a kidnapper’s ransom letter a “request for financial assistance.” It’s not technically wrong, but it misses the point considerably.)
No one even casually aware of how media attention works in this country thinks a similar tweet published by, oh, say, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press office would have been similarly handled.
Then, the nation would have been treated to no end of horror stories about conservative political teams sanctioning violence, with a New York Times thumbsucker or 10 about the violent fascist roots of American conservatism.
(The Times, along with the rest of the establishment media, has a habit of seeming to forget exactly which political party — and which end of the political spectrum — makes a habit of political violence in this country.)
But clearly, it had gone too far. And social media users noticed, albeit cynically.
Hobbs doesn’t need bad publicity. She probably asked Berry to resign.
— God given rights are sacred. Hands off! 🇺🇸♥️ (@gusthehobocat) March 29, 2023
That’s a great start. When is she going to be prosecuted for making terroristic threats?
— Tony🥁 (@tonytypesalot) March 29, 2023
The weird thing is I bet she believes she was following the path of the righteous and didn’t do anything wrong.
How we got here as a society I don’t understand.
— Anonymous Anonymizer (@JonathanLingo) March 29, 2023
Need to keep following this. I will not be shocked if she bounces back with a 6 figure salary working for a woke company in the private sector.
— Lyn Mattioli (@MattioliLyn) March 29, 2023
It clearly didn’t help Berry’s position that, according to a report early Wednesday from KPNX-TV in Phoenix, the offending tweet itself came in response to another user commenting on an earlier Berry tweet criticizing those on the left who question the transgender agenda.
In other words, Berry wasn’t just oh-so-subtly advocating violence against conservatives, she was hinting at a shooting war with fellow leftists who aren’t lefty enough for the transgender cause.
Even a run-of-the-mill leftist, the kind who pretends to accept that men can be women and women can be men, wouldn’t go that far.
But a real pro, a woman who is actually paid to represent the Democratic governor of Arizona in public, had no problem doing it — until she was called out. Now, she’s out of a job.
Lake was right. The media bias really hasn’t been clearer.
But for once, someone is paying the consequences.
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