As further details emerge on the deadly Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting, one Republican hopeful in particular is drawing the ire of left-wing journalists and officials affiliated with the nation’s leading abortion provider.
“In wake of terrorism in Colorado Springs, Carly Fiorina proves herself a psychopath,” read a headline Monday on the popular liberal blog Daily Kos.
The author of the article is one of many who have berated Fiorina, one of the leading abortion opponents in the GOP presidential field, since a man opened fire on police officers and civilians inside a Planned Parenthood clinic last Friday.
“[I]n the wake of a domestic terrorism attack against a Planned Parenthood clinic in which the terrorist apparently parroted the same “baby parts” line of reasoning that Carly Florina [sic] used to boost her fame on the campaign trail, she is behaving precisely as a psychopathic monster would be expected to behave,” declared the Daily Kos article.
Fiorina has repeatedly condemned a series of undercover videos, released this summer, depicting Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of fetal body parts. A comment she made during the second GOP primary debate — “I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain” — attracted particular scrutiny from her opponents.
“If Carly Fiorina cannot put two and two together and acknowledge that the man murdering people at Planned Parenthood while mumbling about a Republican-pushed conspiracy theory about Planned Parenthood is indeed ‘linked’ to that Republican-pushed conspiracy theory about Planned Parenthood, she is (one) stupid, (two) a psychopath and (three) unequivocally unfit for public office,” the Daily Kos continued.
Another liberal blogger, Bob “RJ” Abrams, attributed the three deaths resulting from the Colorado shooting, which included one law enforcement official and two civilians, to Fiorina’s comments about the controversial Planned Parenthood videos.
“Carly Fiorina’s lies killed Officer Garrey Swasey and Iraq War veteran, Ke’Arre Stewart,” read Abrams’ headline.
“Fiorina did not give the shooter his gun, but she supplied him with all the ammunition needed to foment yet another mass shooting in America,” the Chicago-based blogger wrote, adding that “Carly Fiorina is an ugly woman.”
“I’m not referring to her looks. Maybe I am, a little. But she is ugly inside, where it actually makes a difference,” Abrams continued.
Stassa Edwards, writing for the feminist blog Jezebel, claimed Fiorina possesses “proverbial guns” and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews suggested conservatives like Fiorina and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “enjoy” criticizing the mainstream media for pushing a political narrative after mass shootings.
“Let the liberal media blame the bad guy and the enemies of Planned Parenthood first, and then attack. Don’t go first. Cause when you go first, you make people think, like this guy [Cruz], you’re enjoying it. Like Carly Fiorina seems to be,” Matthews said on his program Monday.
Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens also took jabs at Fiorina Monday on the cable news circuit.
“I thought it was pretty amazing that [Fiorina] tried to — in the midst of this moment — bring in things that she’s been thoroughly discredited around in terms of charges against Planned Parenthood,” Laguens told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
“[O]f course, the gunman is now quoted as having said almost exactly something similar to what Carly Fiorina just said,” she added, referring to reports that the suspect mumbled “no more baby parts” to law enforcement officials after his arrest.
Much of the criticism of Fiorina came after she reacted to the shooting during an appearance Sunday on Fox News.
“What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts, is this is typical left-wing tactics,” the former business executive told the network’s Chris Wallace.
“Any protesters should always be peaceful — whether it’s Black Lives Matter or pro-life protesters,” she added.
Fiorina dropped to ninth in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings.
