Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Walz Rips GOP For Fretting Over Gay Penguins Instead Of School Shootings In Blistering Speech

Screenshot of Tim Walz
Harris For President

The Democratic vice presidential nominee spoke about Republicans' fixation with things like children's books about gay penguins—then ripped JD Vance's comment about school shootings being a 'fact of life.'

Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz slammed Republicans' fixation with things like children's books about gay penguins instead of school shootings.

Walz's remarks came after four people were killed in a mass shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School. The shooter, a 14-year-old boy, was charged with four counts of felony murder; his father, Colin Gray, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killings and faces additional charges of involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children.


At one point, Walz referenced And Tango Makes Three, a children's book that tells the story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who create a family together. Conservatives have previously claimed the book uses penguins to "promote the LGBTQ agenda" and opposed its inclusion in school libraries.

Speaking at a national dinner for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Walz said:

"Think about it in this room. This is what these folks are focusing on, spending all their time. Like reading about two gay penguins who love each other is somehow going to turn your children gay. Here’s what I tell you, it’s a fact of life: some people are gay."

Walz also made a reference to recent words from former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance, who called the gun violence epidemic a "fact of life" after the shooting while calling for strengthened security measures in public schools:

“But you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to get shot dead in schools. That's not a fact of life."

You can hear what he said in the video below.

Many echoed Walz's criticisms.


The Harris campaign previously criticized Vance for his remarks.

Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa also responded to Vance in an official statement subtitled "Trump and Vance Think 'We Have to Get Over' and 'Deal With' School Shootings" condemning his words:

"Yesterday, Vice President Harris said 'it doesn't have to be this way' in response to another senseless school shooting. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance think school shootings are 'a fact of life' and 'we have to get over it.'"
"Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know we can take action to keep our children safe and keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance will always choose the NRA and gun lobby over our children. That is the choice in this election."

Harris has previously called for universal background checks and an assault weapons ban and leads the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a marked difference from Trump, who did not offer policy proposals when responding to a question about the shooting during a Fox News town hall.

Trump said we live in "a sick and angry world for a lot of reasons and we're going to make it better, and we're going to heal our world." In January, following a mass shooting in Perry, Iowa, he said people "have to get over it — we have to move forward.”

More from News/2024-election

Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to CancĂșn while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk and Grimes
Kevin Tachman/Getty Images for Vogue

Elon Musk's Ex Grimes Calls X Platform A 'Poison' And 'Theatre' After Social Media Hiatus

Claire Boucher—who performs and creates under her stage name Grimes, but prefers her birth name or just "C" offstage—recently returned to her musical persona's social media accounts after taking a hiatus for her own well-being.

Once extremely active, she noted on X in April:

Keep ReadingShow less