Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) found herself without a press secretary Wednesday after Josselyn Berry submitted her resignation following outrage over a violent tweet she posted.
Berry’s tweet came less than 12 hours after a mentally disturbed transgender shooter killed six people, including three children, at a private Christian school in Nashville.
Initially, she posted a tweet saying, “If you work in the progressive community and are transphobic, you’re not progressive. Period. End of story, it’s not hard to understand but you’re [sic] bigotry masquerading as feminism absolutely is.”
That tweet got a response from a Twitter user named Elyse Guidas, saying, “Not sure these transphobic-from-the-left posers know who they’re messing with”.
Berry then responded with the ill-advised tweet featuring a gif of a woman wielding two revolvers that came from the 1980 movie “Gloria”.
“Us when we see transphobes,” she captioned the post.
Response from Left and Right
Republican lawmakers zeroed in on the tweet Tuesday afternoon, calling for Berry’s termination.
The Arizona Freedom Caucus issued a statement from Senator Anthony Kern calling the tweet “reprehensible and massively disturbing” and calling for Berry to resign immediately.
The Caucus followed up with its own tweet.
“Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist @katiehobbs’ Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” the Arizona Freedom Caucus posted. “Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable.”
Hobbs’ only responded to the criticism via a statement on Wednesday after Berry resigned.
“The Governor does not condone violence in any form. This administration holds mutual respect at the forefront of how we engage with one another. The post by the Press Secretary is not reflective of the values of the administration. The Governor has received and accepted the resignation of the Press Secretary,” the statement from the governor’s office said.
