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Democrats Are Tired of Your Moments of Silence

November 10, 2017

Democrats are tired of holding a "moment of silence" or sending "thoughts and prayers" after mass shootings.

Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu (Calif.) and Jackie Speier (Calif.) have both disparaged the idea of holding a "moment of silence" for victims of mass shootings like the ones in Sutherland Springs, Texas and Las Vegas.

On Monday, Lieu posted a Facebook video of himself after walking out of a moment of silence held on the House floor, saying he would no longer be "silent."

Top Democrats like Barack Obama and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) have declared "thoughts and prayers" are not sufficient in the place of Republicans helping to pass gun control legislation.

Current DNC chair Tom Perez says that with each new mass shooting, "we will get the same thoughts and prayers response from the Republicans," and other gun control advocates like Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) have criticized the "pattern" of "thoughts and prayers from Congress."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has said people are "impatient" with moments of silence.

"Every time it happens, we have a moment of silence. A moment of silence that is indicative of the silence that will follow," she said last year after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.