Former Obama PR Guy Sticks Foot In Mouth By Blaming SC Governor For Charleston Shooting

Former Obama PR Guy Sticks Foot In Mouth By Blaming SC Governor For Charleston Shooting

Perhaps in an effort to prove that conservatives do not hold the patent on making wildly inappropriate statements in the wake of tragedy, former Obama Administration public affairs official Brandon Friedman took to Twitter Wednesday night to blame Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for the shooting at a black Charleston church that took the lives of nine patrons. To make matters worse, Friedman sent the tweet at 9:55 PM when the identity of the assailant was still unknown, and a motive had not yet been fully formed. (21-year-old white male Dylann Storm Roof has since been apprehended and the FBI is investigating the murders as a hate crime.)

Below is Friedman’s tweet:

 

Obviously, Friedman’s attempt to score political points while the bodies were still warm did not sit well with a lot of people, especially conservatives who felt that he was unfairly targeting Haley for purely partisan reasons.

 

Sadly, it appears that Friedman, who gained notice for writing an excellent book about his time serving as an infantry officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, has bought into the notion that everything must be tied into partisan politics. Essentially, everything is a zero-sum game where every event must be viewed through the prism of us versus them. Democrat = good. Republican = bad. There is just no other way to look at things.

For the time being, Friedman won’t be known as the brave veteran who spoke out about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and then tried to work on behalf of veterans. Nope. He’ll now be known as the Obama flack who said something really fucking stupid on Twitter about a terrible tragedy.

 

H/T Mediaite

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.