In general, in the immediate aftermath of a deadly school shooting, Republican officials have spent recent years sticking to a familiar playbook. They (1) offer “thoughts and prayers”; (2) say something along the lines of, “This isn’t the time to talk about politics”; and (3) roll out stale culture-war ideas such as regulating video games and pushing state-endorsed religion in public schools.....

But Republican politics in the Trump era has been a little different.

It was earlier this year, for example, when Donald Trump responded to a school shooting in Iowa by urging supporters to “move forward,” adding his belief that people “have to get over it.”

The former president’s comments came to mind after seeing new and related remarks from his 2024 running mate. The Associated Press reported:

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Thursday that he lamented that school shootings are a “fact of life” and argued the U.S. needs to harden security to prevent more carnage like the shooting this week that left four dead in Georgia.

.....But Vance nevertheless concluded, “I don’t like that this is a fact of life.”

Link to tweet

......In a statement issued soon after Vance’s public comments, the Harris/Walz campaign team issued a written statement that read, “Yesterday, Vice President Harris said ‘it doesn’t have to be this way’ in response to another senseless school shooting. Donald Trump and JD Vance think school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and ‘we have to get over it.’

“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know we can take action to keep our children safe and keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Donald Trump and JD Vance will choose the NRA and gun lobby over our children. That is the choice in this election.”