Greg Abbott Is Blaming the Texas Mall Shooting on “Anger” and “Mental Health.” It’s a Distraction

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Greg Abbott Is Blaming the Texas Mall Shooting on “Anger” and “Mental Health.” It’s a Distraction

Good morning from the Hive newsroom! As Texas reels from a mass shooting at a Dallas-area mall Saturday, Eric Lutz pillories Governor Greg Abbott for attributing the massacre to “mental health” issues. “If Abbott really cared about fixing the mental health crisis in America, or about healing the country’s open political wounds,” Lutz writes, “he could take real, sustained action to do so.”

Zooming out, Charlotte Klein has the latest on Tucker Carlson’s next act after his abrupt departure from Fox News. Plus, Bess Levin comments on Ron DeSantis’s astonishing lack of charisma—and why it could be the death of his potential 2024 presidential bid.

Greg Abbott Is Blaming the Texas Mall Shooting on “Anger” and “Mental Health.” It’s a Distraction

The Texas governor is standing in the way of commonsense gun safety laws, and has run an administration that’s cut social services and dehumanized marginalized people. His policies have “made it easier to kill and be killed,” Texas congressman Joaquin Castro wrote.

Tucker Carlson Plots Next Moves After Fox News—And It Could Get Even Messier Than It Already Is

The ousted right-wing host is said to be considering building his own media empire and hosting alternative election debates. But first he has to get out of his Fox contract, and he’s reportedly willing to go “DEFCON 1” to make that happen.

Being an Unlikable Jerk Not Working Out So Well for Ron DeSantis

The Florida governor’s 2024 prospects appear to be drastically dwindling.

Texas Mall Shooter Wore “Right Wing Death Squad” Patch, Officials Probing Possible Neo-Nazi Ties: Report

The FBI apparently found that the suspect, who recently murdered eight people at a Dallas-area mall, shared “writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric.”

Oklahoma Governor Claims PBS Is Indoctrinating Children, Because Republicans Are Contractually Obligated to Say This S–t Now

Kevin Stitt is just one of countless Republicans whose new pet cause is to protect children from the mere existence of LGBTQ+ people.