How Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Others Used Social Media to Reframe News of Orlando Shooting

As news updates rolled in about Sunday’s shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, politicians, public figures, activists and journalists took to Facebook and Twitter to send out unfiltered statements about the significance of the massacre.

For prominent politicians in and seeking office, the shooting represented an obligation to comment as well as a challenge, as the tragedy touched on several highly charged issues and themes in the public sphere, including but not limited to: LGBTQ rights, homophobia, Islamophobia, gun control and terrorism.

Given the context of the current presidential contest, several current and former lawmakers, as well as candidates, were prompted by the incident to ‘get ahead of the story’ by defining the narrative and interpreting the meaning of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Many took the opportunity to draw connections between the event and causes that they support or condemn. In so doing, they negotiated—with varying degrees of success, depending on several factors including the political inclinations of their evaluators—a fine line between commentary and opportunism.

Below is a brief and incomplete roundup of comments issued on social media by political players of different descriptions, beginning with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, who characteristically issued one of the most inflammatory remarks from his milieu:

Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016

Later on Sunday, Trump, apparently undeterred by critics who accused him of putting taking credit for his prior, controversial warnings about terrorism above recognizing the seriousness of the moment, followed up that tweet with others along the same lines:

What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016

However, the ban on Muslims that Trump had called for last December would not have prevented the Orlando shooting. The alleged gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, was an American citizen born in the U.S.

Regardless of whether the facts about Trump’s ban actually squared with what he took credit for, the point of broadcasting that message might have been different, judging by this comment from a self-described Democratic voter sent in response to the first of his tweets posted above:

@realDonaldTrump I usually vote Democrat but after today.. We need you. I know if you’re president you’ll destroy ISIS.

— ? (@insufferabIes) June 12, 2016

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton responded to the news of with their own Facebook posts and tweets that reflected their political leanings. For her part, Hillary Clinton situated the news about the shooting within specific frames of gun control and LGBT rights:

“This was an act of terror. … This was also an act of hate.” —Hillary on the attack in Orlando https://t.co/MmaGjrSufr

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 12, 2016

“To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them.” —Hillary https://t.co/MmaGjrSufr

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 12, 2016

“We need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals.” —Hillary on the FL attack

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 12, 2016

Bernie Sanders kept it basic while keeping his focus on Sunday’s victims in a message of support posted early in the day on Facebook:

Sen. Sanders’ did not use his Twitter feed, as Trump and Clinton had, to draw connections between the Pulse massacre and topics he has repeatedly stressed during his campaign. The Twitter account managed by his campaign had posted the same statement issued on Facebook and one other tweet as of press time:

From what is now known, this was a terrorist act by an ISIS sympathizer. That despicable and barbaric organization must be destroyed.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 13, 2016

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein also weighed in, first with a Facebook post:

… and then in a series of tweets, including these, which took up discussions about gun control, state-sponsored violence, racism and immigration:

We need to take action to restrict access to mass assault weapons that enable mass killings to occur w/ such frightening regularity #Orlando

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) June 12, 2016

Dr. Jill Stein’s Statement on Orlando Tragedy … https://t.co/xBwbskChLn pic.twitter.com/FK9yQixLny

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) June 13, 2016

All violence, whether state sponsored or motivated by racist bigotry or intolerance towards immigrants or #LGBTQI is shameful. #LoveIsLove

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) June 13, 2016

Sarah Palin, who knows about leveraging Facebook to influence the news cycle (see: death panels) and who has endorsed Trump’s candidacy, echoed the presumptive Republican nominee’s emphasis on Islamic terrorism and pushed back on calls for stricter gun control measures (via Facebook):

For his part, Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, released a single, simple statement on Twitter:

Thoughts are with the #Orlando victims & a community who has been attacked. It’s a time to mourn, be strong & be what makes America great.

— Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) June 12, 2016

As mentioned on Truthdig’s live blog, Sunday’s mass shooting presented a particular challenge to conservatives who claim their identities based on their social as well as economic and other policy positions. Suddenly, they were confronted with the need to publicly mourn for members of a demographic whose interests they had opposed, along with clear evidence that the primary narrative that defined the event was about homophobia and a hate crime enacted on an unprecedented scale.

The LGBT advocacy site AMERICAblog, for one, was quick to post a comprehensive takedown of such right-wing figures as onetime GOP presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Republican presidential candidate and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, former GOP presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, calling them all “homophobes” who are “suddenly concerned about gays” following the attack on Pulse Orlando.

Below are some of the tweets from the list of legislators name-checked in AMERICAblog’s story:

Please join Janet and me in praying for the victims of the Orlando attack and their families.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 12, 2016

Our prayers are with those injured and killed early this morning in horrifying act of terror in Orlando.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 12, 2016

This is an attack on our people. An attack on Orlando. An attack on Florida. An attack on America. An attack on all of us.

— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) June 12, 2016

We pray for those brutally attacked in Orlando. While we must learn more about the attacker, the victims & families will not be forgotten.

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 12, 2016

Rep. Ryan circled back to Twitter after that last post to send out his own, terrorism-oriented statement about the Orlando attack:

My statement on the Orlando terrorist attack: pic.twitter.com/tiJX2yysK1

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 12, 2016

Georgia Rep. Steven Smith’s response to the news also served as an example of the ambivalence certain lawmakers showed in supporting LGBT victims of Sunday’s shooting while refusing to support the community’s greater cause:

Let’s not go too far. But I will defend your right to life and equal protection from terror. https://t.co/bVxjv3wOzH

— Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) June 12, 2016

Judging by these various takes on the same occurrence, the Orlando massacre apparently looked quite different depending on the positions and ambitions of the various high-profile parties doing the work of interpreting Sunday’s tragedy. Those who lean to the right saw terrorism—Islamic terrorism, specifically—as their preferred explanation, while homophobia and gun control were highly cited issues on the left. 

Political jostling aside, the most powerful post from any source on Sunday took the form of a one-sentence status update on Pulse Orlando’s Facebook page that read,“Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”

—Posted by Kasia Anderson

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