Many Republicans, including Rubio, spoke much more extensively about the threat of ISIS and Islamic terrorism. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, pegged the problem to immigration policies, noting on Twitter he asked for a ban on Muslim admissions and calling on President Obama to resign the presidency for not mentioning “radical Islam” during the president’s statement on Sunday. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned the attacks as an act of terror, emphasizing that America is “a nation at war with Islamic terrorists.” And Monday’s New York Post cover declares, “Islamic Terrorist Kills 50 … ISIS vs. U.S.”

On the Democratic side, leaders were much more eager to show their solidarity with the LGBT community. Obama noted that “the shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance, and to sing, and to live,” and Vice President Biden said “the violence is not normal, and the targeting of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans is evil and abhorrent.” Hillary Clinton addressed the LGBT community directly: “Please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them.” Leaders of left-leaning organizations including the National Center for Transgender Equality, the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, and Muslim Advocates gathered outside of the Human Rights Campaign building in Washington, D.C., to decry the violence. Like Obama, Clinton, and other Democratic politicians, though, they also emphasized a policy issue: gun control.

“Let’s not forget that what made this hate so deadly—is that it’s still far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns in our country,” said Chad Griffin, the president of HRC. Like a mirror to the Post’s cover, the headline of the New York Daily News was “Thanks, NRA.”

People seemed to feel a sense of helplessness in the face of evil. It’s not yet clear why Mateen committed the attacks, though initial evidence suggests the answer is complicated: the pledge to ISIS suggests the crimes were motivated by faith, yet Mateen’s father said homophobia, not religion, was the more likely cause. Gun control, immigration policies, and the war on ISIS are accessible policy proposals—they represent an instinct to explain and solve violence that defies logic.

And yet, the more difficult problems are ones of ideology and culture. On Twitter, The New York Times’ Rukmini Callimachi discussed the way ISIS has encouraged “lone wolf” attacks, providing templates for hostage-taking and martyrdom. It’s a decentralized call to violence—anyone with social-media access can follow the group’s writings and decide to take up the cause themselves.

And many American conservatives have widely condemned these murders, but some have also been at the forefront of rhetoric against same-sex marriage and bathroom restrictions. Mara Keisling, the head of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview that this kind of rhetoric creates a culture of fear.