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Comment by andrewchambers | Hacker News Reader

I've seen a large number of comments online saying the shooter was a trump supporter - I don't really understand where that information comes from.

I feel like this is the sort of thing a prediction market might be able sort out.

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There are multiple statements from his relatives that his family are "MAGA", his parents are Registered Republicans.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/ty...

It seems he was "raised right", with easy access to firearms and ammunition. Items not nearly as common in left voting urban areas.

However, Mr. Kimmel's comments centered on the fact that his political leanings, and reasoning for the school shooting are not entirely clear.

The reasoning for the shooting is pretty clear. He told his transgender lover that “I had enough of his [Kirk’s] hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26098852-tyler-robin...

No, that's the reason to hate Kirk, not a reason to shoot him.

What in his upbringing led him to believe the way to handle the situation was with violence is unclear.

It was well known before Kimmel made his comments that the shooter was in a romantic relationship with a trans woman. Having said that, even if he did not know about that relationship it was irresponsible of Kimmel to repeat rumors he could not have known were true that the shooter was maga.

Except your premise is incorrect.

Kimmel did not repeat rumors, he asserted that the political affiliations were unknown.

edit: He asserted the "MAGA gang" trying to distance themselves from Mr. Robinson, which is true. It does not mean Kimmel views Robinson as "MAGA".

Exactly, it wasn't even a joke; it's a fact.

MAGA is trying to distance themselves from the killer, and so is the left. No one wants to be associated with that guy, and for good reason.

He did not assert they were unknown: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said in his Sept. 15 monologue.

Correct! He never asserted what Mr. Robinson's affiliations were to begin with.

I added an edit after re-reading the comments.

I guess that leaves the question as to why Kimmel did not say: 'We hit some new lows over the weekend when people of all political stripes were trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them'. Because that seems like it gives more information to the viewer because that is what actually happened and acknowledging people from both sides were doing the 'bad thing' should help to bring people together instead of driving people apart.

Mr. Kimmel is making a series of jokes about how members of the party in power are reacting, including a clip of the president not seeming to care when asked about Mr. Kirk's death.

You don’t think trans people or their friends can be republican / conservative?

Caitlyn Jenner is a trump supporter fwiw. Trans is not incompatible with conservatism despite the cognitive dissonance required to take such a stance.

> There are multiple statements from his relatives that his family are "MAGA", his parents are Registered Republicans.

To be fair, that doesn't necessarily say anything about his politics. I know plenty of liberals with MAGA parents. I don't think we can draw any conclusions as to his politics at this time.

Exactly, which was the point Kimmel was making. Apparently that suggestion was too much for the current administration, and the official narrative must not be questioned.

> which was the point Kimmel was making.

This is a really bad misunderstanding of what he said. It’s clear as day, and yet you’re unable to comprehend

It's clear as day, that Kimmel did not assert what Mr. Robinson's political affiliations or leanings were and are.

Yet, you're insulting those who can read the words on a page.

Why?

> There are multiple statements from his relatives that his family are "MAGA", his parents are Registered Republicans.

Most leftists despise their parents politics. None of this suggests a rightward leaning of the culprit himself.

> Most leftists despise their parents[sic] politics.

And do you have a source on that? Anecdotally, most "leftists" I know have left leaning parents. But it's up to the person to define if they are or are not "leftist", because it's a rather narrow, small minded world view that has to define things in those terms.

> None of this suggests a rightward leaning of the culprit himself.

Nor does it suggest his leftward leaning. Maybe it suggests why he used violence as a means to enact social change on the world.

edit:spelling

> But it's up to the person to define if they are or are not "leftist"

Not really

> it's a rather narrow, small minded world view that has to define things in those terms.

Doesn’t follow. Words have meaning, and can be applied where they make sense.

Wow. If you haven't met folks who don't fit, or don't consider themselves aligned with the "left/right" spectrum of American politics, you're missing out. The "us vs. them" mentality is juvenile, and it is sad you subscribe to it.

If you cannot comprehend the shades of grey in the world, maybe you need more exposure to it.

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