WASHINGTON — Amid highlighting his record on protecting and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday slammed JD Vance’s recent comments that school shootings are a “fact of life.”
“It’s a fact of life that some people are gay,” Walz said during remarks at the 2024 Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington, D.C. “But you know what’s not a fact of life? Our children being shot dead in schools.”
Four people were killed Wednesday during a school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and eight students and one teacher were injured.
Vance, one day after the shooting, called school shootings a “fact of life” and advocated for more security in schools.
“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said during a rally in Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday. “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.”
Walz, speaking to roughly 3,500 people at the dinner on Saturday, highlighted his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ record in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. He noted Harris was among the first to officiate same-sex marriages in the country.