Vance Pushes Back on Democrats’ ‘Shocking’ Commentary on Prayer

Vice President JD Vance spoke out Thursday morning against what he sees as attacks on prayer in the wake of the deadly shooting at Minnesota’s Annunciation Catholic School.

“It is shocking to me that so many left-wing politicians attack the idea of prayer in response to a tragedy,” wrote Vance, himself a convert to Roman Catholicism, on X. “Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action. We pray because our hearts are broken and we believe that God is listening.”

“Exactly,” responded White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to his post.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has repeatedly urged the public to not be content with condolences and prayers.

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends,” he told the press after the shooting.

In a later appearance on CNN, Frey again characterized prayer as insufficient to address the tragedy.

“Thoughts and prayers, while they’re appreciated, they’re not enough,” he said. “These kids were literally praying. Of course, it’s on us to talk about doing the right things, but more importantly, it’s on all of us to act, to make a difference so that it’s not just, ‘This should never happen again.’”

Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary under President Joe Biden and a current MSNBC news host, spoke of prayer with even stronger language on Wednesday.

“Prayer is not freaking enough,” she said. “Prayers does not end school shootings. 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.”

On Thursday, Vance also responded directly to Psaki’s post, saying, “We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens. 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?”