"So many terroristic enablers in churches, in Congress, and state houses. Whether by discriminatory policy or the love affair with guns," read another Barnes tweet.

Barnes' tweets drew the ire of several conservative pundits and lawmakers who accused him of being too hasty to blame guns and Christianity for the massacre.

Kremer accused him of politicizing a tragedy and attempting to "divide and conquer."

But Barnes, calling Kremer's press release "bizarre," said he was engaging in some necessary soul-searching for his own religion, as he does within his own political party.

"I said that to say that there is a very anti-LGBT sentiment that exists in a lot of people who misinterpret their faith, be it Christianity, be it Judaism, be it Islam. But I can’t say that about Judaism because I’m not Jewish. I can't say that about Islam because I'm not Muslim. I can speak to that because I am a Christian," Barnes said.

The motivation for the attack — the worst mass shooting in American history — has been the subject of heated political debate at a national level.