This tweet was pretty gross to begin with.
But the timing made it even worse.
Over the weekend, a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas left 22 people dead, and another in Dayton, Ohio killed nine people.
But that didn’t stop Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign Twitter account from sharing a photo of his political opponents’ names written onto tombstones hours after the first shooting happened.
The tweet from McConnell’s official Senate campaign Twitter account @Team_Mitch started gaining traction after McConnell’s Democratic Senate challenger Amy McGrath tweeted it out on Monday afternoon.
Merrick Garland, whose Supreme Court nomination was stalled by and ultimately stalled thanks to McConnell, is on another tombstone, as is Kentucky’s Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergarn Grimes.
The Grim Reaper of Socialism at #FancyFarm [1] today. #FancyFarm139 [2] pic.twitter.com/KMKJifu3b5 [3]
— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) August 3, 2019 [4]
The original tweet was posted at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday — hours after news of the shooting started coming out, and just 24 minutes before McConnell tweeted his prayers to the victims and first responders in the El Paso shooting. The tweet was still up as Monday afternoon.
Twitter had some thoughts:
How exactly is the death of a political opponent in any way, shape, or form appropriate after 2 mass murders in one day? Especially when #MassacreMitch [5] refuses to do anything to protect the public from gun violence?
Seriously f*cked up.
— Corrina 🆘️ #VoteBlueToEndThisNightmare (@Corrina_L525) August 5, 2019 [6]
One of your lunatic followers might see this and take it seriously. Fucking disgusting.
— Crow_Crud (@CrowCrud) August 5, 2019 [7]
I totally get it!
You want people to murder Mitch's opponent.
— Mark Husbands (@MarkHusbands1) August 5, 2019 [8]
Are you SERIOUSLY promoting a tombstone of your public opponent? Just after El Paso and Dayton? Are you trying to incite her murder? How is this funny to you?@Twitter [9] @TwitterSupport [10] @AlisonForKY [11] @KyDems [12]
— Erik Halvorsen (@erikhalvorsen18) August 5, 2019 [13]
mitch mcconnell joked about killing several of his electoral opponents and merrick garland on the same weekend that two mass shootings *actually* killed over 30 people https://t.co/MWCy2izPvR [14]
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 5, 2019 [15]
Within 48 hours of 2 major mass shootings, the Republican Senate Majority Leader's team is now promoting tombstones with the names of his political opponents on them.
Remember this the next time he bristles at the very NOTION that he is in any part responsible for the bloodshed. https://t.co/TskN0PlN4W [16]
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 5, 2019 [17]
If anything happens to any of these people, let's remember who's having wet dreams about their deaths, & apparently targeting his opponents & a Federal judge—the @FBI [18] should warn Judge Garland. #Kentucky [19] knows #MassacreMitch [5] & his sick campaign. #Kentucky [19] must get rid of him. https://t.co/hgHXD5XlWK [20]
— ShelbyDogue (@ShelbyDogue) August 5, 2019 [21]