Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., said Wednesday that Democrats were more likely to be mass murderers in comparison to Republicans in an interview discussing the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

"It's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats," Tenney told host Fred Dicker on Albany's Talk 1300 Radio. "But the media doesn't talk about that either."

Tenney, who faces a tight race to secure a second term representing New York's 22nd congressional district, made the comments in response to Dicker saying inner-city gun violence claimed more victims than mass shootings.

"While we know the perpetrators of these atrocities have a wide variety of political views, my comments are in response to a question about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. I will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens who are smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists," she later clarified to CNN.

In the original interview, Tenney added that she was worried law-abiding gun owners would be "targeted" as lawmakers grapple with calls for legislative action in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people in Florida on Valentine's Day.

"And in their demographic, they have the least amount of crimes of virtually any other demographic,” Tenney said.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Evan Lukaske categorized the New York Republican's remarks as "unhinged, shameful and disgusting."

Read the @dccc statement on Claudia Tenney's disgusting, unhinged, and shameful comments about Democrats committing "mass murder"---> https://t.co/Pyb5k9jRsY pic.twitter.com/BCVLmELOXm — Evan Lukaske (@lukaske) February 21, 2018



Democratic challenger Anthony Brindisi‏ also said Tenney should apologize for her comments.

"First, @RepTenney said Democrats are un-American. Now this. This toxic rhetoric is shameful and a new low even for Ms. Tenney," Brindisi‏ wrote on Twitter. "Inserting politics into a national tragedy is beyond the pale & disgusting. She should apologize now to spare our region any more national embarrassment."