With the inevitable gun control debate looming, it seems like a good time to remind the public that liberals are very selective when it comes to their outrage over mass shootings. Shootings that don’t fit the left-wing narrative are often ignored. If the shooter is not a white male, or was radicalized by left-wing politics, that information is conveniently ignored.

In the case of the 2017 Congressional baseball shooting, where the shooter was a left-wing activist and Bernie Sanders supporter who deliberately targeted Republicans, the response from the left was, to say the least, interesting. I can remember the responses of radical liberals on social media in the hours and days following the shooting, as the facts became known, and what I and many others saw, was not so much outrage or condemnation, but cheers from the left.

In the aftermath of the shooting, quite a few on the left actually praised the shooter as a hero and a patriot. Here is a small sample:

James Hodgkinson is an American hero! — Pat Newman (@joyinspiteof) June 14, 2017

I´m celebrating the courage of an American hero and I hope for many more to come. "James T. Hodgkinson" RIP pic.twitter.com/FPUjmCQjV7 — Rudi Mental (@Friedo_Frohsinn) June 14, 2017

We need more patriots like james Hodgkinson https://t.co/RTbr6iQUHn — Lee in Tennessee (@leeclipperfan) June 14, 2017

James Hodgkinson died an American hero. Our society can never repay its debt to him except to remember his name and his contributions. #RIP — Horse ebooks (@horse__ebooks) June 15, 2017

https://twitter.com/CSPANdemocrat/status/875136499607625729

According to the Chicago Tribune, “One Facebook user created a new page called ‘James T. Hodgkinson is a true American hero.’”

Those on the left who didn’t outright praise the shooter argued that Congressman Steve Scalise, who was severely wounded during the shooting, had it coming. When MSNBC host Joy Reid all but said Rep. Steve Scalise deserved to be shot because of his conservative voting record. Former Star Trek actor George Takei attacked Scalise in the wake of the shooting, calling him a bigoted homophobe and essentially called the shooting karma for his political beliefs. The co-chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party said he was glad Scalise was shot and that he deserved it. PJ Media’s Debra Heine compiled “The 7 Most Despicable Reactions to the Virginia Ballpark Shooting,” which included a Washington Post contributor who tweeted that people should cross their fingers that Scalise might die from his injuries, and a HuffPost writer who lamented that the “violent resistance” wasn’t more organized.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. The left has a history of glorifying violence against Republicans. This is the attitude that people on the left are bound to take when the left-wing media and elected Democrats repeatedly make false claims that Republicans are fascists, racists, Nazis, etc., etc. The people who praised James Hodgkinson or said Steve Scalise deserved to be shot rationalize their position by equating Scalise and the Republican Party with the worst of humanity. We’re not simply talking about a few random unhinged lunatics on Twitter. Democrat candidates for president routinely call President Trump a fascist. Last month, MSNBC hosts compared Trump to Hitler seven times. Think about that. The left believes that violence against Republicans is morally justified. PJ Media’s Megan Fox explained it perfectly:

“If you are a person who truly believes that Trump is a traitor and has destroyed our democracy (as the media has told you every day since November), then can you really be blamed for taking action in the form of violence? Which one of us wouldn’t defend our country against ultimate evil? Who is really to blame for this? The media that lied nonstop for months (make that years) about who Trump is and what Republicans believe? Or the stooges who believe them?

Violence and murder over policy disagreements are being cheered by the same people who also want to disarm the country. Think we’re going to hand over our guns and be defenseless against left-wing mobs that think they have a moral obligation to kill people with they disagree with? Don’t count on it.

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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis