Joe Scarborough slams Vance’s ‘fact of life’ remark after Georgia school shooting claims 4 lives

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Morning Joe' co-host Joe Scarborough sharply criticized JD Vance's alleged statement that school shootings have become a "fact of life".

Scarborough, on the Friday, September 6, segment of 'Morning Joe' accused Republican lawmakers of being complicit in perpetuating this grim reality by obstructing "common sense, basic gun safety legislation that the overwhelming majority of Americans support".

He pointedly declared, “That is why this is a fact of life, brought to you by the Republican Party.”

Joe Scarborough responds to JD Vance's alleged school shooting remarks

A June 2023 Gallup poll indicates that around 58 percent of US adults support stricter gun laws. Joe Scarborough's comments came in response to JD Vance's remarks following a deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, earlier in the week in which four people were killed.

The Republican vice presidential candidate spoke about the Goergia school shooting during a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday, September 5. He expressed dismay over the frequent occurrences of school shootings and advocated for enhanced school security measures.

Vance lamented the frequency of such tragedies and called for increased security in schools to prevent them.

"I don’t like that this is a fact of life," he said.

"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. We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they're not able," Vance added.

Vance faced backlash for his alleged soft-pedalled remarks about school shootings, especially from the Harris campaign.

Scarborough’s critique was prompted by a discussion with his co-host Willie Geist, who noted, “In fairness, [Vance’s] full comment was ‘I don’t like that this is a fact of life'," but also pointed out that security at Apalachee High School did not prevent the shooting.

Geist added, “Having the school resource officers there, who acted heroically the other day and probably prevented more kids and teachers from dying, it wasn’t enough to save the four people who did die.”

Joe Scarborough criticizes legislative inaction

Further adding to the debate, Willie Geist referenced a 2021 study by The Violence Project, which found that armed guards in schools do not necessarily reduce fatalities.

The study, which analyzed 133 school shootings and attempted shootings between 1980 and 2019, revealed that incidents at schools with armed guards resulted in three times as many deaths on average.

Scarborough underscored that the issue lies not just with immediate security measures but with the broader legislative environment. He criticized the lack of support for measures like safe gun storage and red flag laws, which could have mitigated the impact of the shooting.

“The guns are in the hands repeatedly of these children, of these mentally deranged people,” Scarborough said. “Why? Because any type of gun safety legislation—and in Georgia we’re talking about locking your guns up in your homes, safe storage, red flag laws, the things that would have helped here—Republicans say no, no, no.”

He concluded with a strong statement, “It doesn’t have to be a fact of life.”

JD Vance's spokesperson claims remarks were taken out of context

JD Vance's comments on school shootings were slammed but his spokesperson later claimed the Ohio senator's remarks were taken out of context. The spokesperson slammed media reports that implied Vance had dismissed school shootings as a "fact of life", as per the Washington Post.

"This is yet another case of the fake news media brazenly lying about a Republican politician. Senator Vance said exactly the opposite of what the Associated Press claimed," said Vance's spokesperson.