Tim Walz Stings GOP With Blunt 'Fact Of Life' After JD Vance's School Shooting Remarks

Tim Walz hit back at Republicans with a fact of life Saturday after Sen. JD Vance s (R-Ohio) response following the deadly school shooting in Georgia .

The Minnesota governor, in a speech to the Human Rights Campaigns annual dinner in Washington, D.C., knocked right-wing book ban efforts by pointing to a bill he signed into law this year that prohibits book bans at libraries in his state.

Like reading about two male penguins who love each other is somehow going to turn your children gay, and thats what you should worry about, said Walz, referring to the frequently challenged childrens book And Tango Makes Three as he paused for light laughs from the crowd.

But heres what Ill tell you. Its a fact of life some people are gay, but you know whats not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools. Thats not a fact of life.

Walzs comments arrive after former President Donald Trump s vice presidential pick weighed in on school shootings at an Arizona campaign rally Thursday , declaring, I dont like that this is a fact of life.

Vance added, 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.

His comments saw backlash from Democrats while The Associated Press reshared a post on X , formerly called Twitter, featuring Vances remarks after his communications director criticized the outlet for partially quoting him, according to New York Magazines Intelligencer .

Republicans have likewise pointed to the full quote from Vance in response to criticism, which was: I dont like this. I dont like to admit this. I dont like that this is a fact of life. 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.

The remarks came just days after two students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.

There have been 417 school shootings in over 25 years since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, with over 383,000 students having experienced a school shooting in that time period, according to an analysis of data by The Washington Post .

Walz, in his remarks at the HRC dinner, added that folks are banning books but are OK with weapons of war being in our schools.

Look, thats not this country, it doesnt have to be this way, it doesnt happen elsewhere, said Vice President Kamala Harris running mate.

He continued, Were going to make sure our children are seen, they bring their authentic selves, and then were going to make sure theyre safe when they get there.