Vice President JD Vance and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday pushed back against former White House press secretary Jen Psaki's call for "more than prayer" in the wake of the deadly Minneapolis Catholic school shooting, responding that the faithful pray "because we know God listens."
"We pray because our hearts are broken," Vance wrote on X while replying to Psaki, now an MSNBC host.
"We pray because we know God listens," he added. "We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways and can inspire us to further action. Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?"
In another post, Vance said: "Of all the weird left-wing culture wars in the last few years, this is by far the most bizarre. 'How dare you pray for innocent people in the midst of tragedy?!' What are you even talking about?"
Psaki, like many others responding to the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church, commented on X that she believes that "Prayer is not freaking enough."
"Prayers do not end school shootings," she said. "Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers."
Her comments echoed those of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said during a press conference after the shootings that "thoughts and prayers" are not enough, stressing that "these kids were literally praying" when they were murdered.
Leavitt also criticized her predecessor's remarks, telling reporters during Thursday's press briefing that she found the statement "incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to the tens of millions of Americans of faith across this country who believe in the power of prayer, who believe that prayer works."
She added that during a time of mourning, "when beautiful young children were killed while praying in a church, it's utterly disrespectful to deride the power of prayer in this country, and it's disrespectful to the millions of Americans of faith."
Leavitt said she would also "encourage Ms. Psaki to pray for these families themselves, who need it right now more than ever."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.