Yes, this really came from Josselyn Berry, the press secretary of the governor of Arizona. Yes, this really came after a transgender assailant murdered three children and three teachers in Nashville. And yes, you can bet your bottom dollar that the national media — which normally would scream if any Republican at any level in or out of office did anything like it — will remain silent for as long as possible over it (via Ed Driscoll):

The Washington Times covered it, of course, as did Fox News, the Daily Mail, the New York Post, and — kudos — the Arizona Republic. And unlike the handful of non-conservative media sites that reported on it, the Republic’s Stacey Barchenger reported it properly as a threat of violence:

A social media post from Gov. Katie Hobbs’ spokesperson suggesting the use of violence against those who disparage transgender people has prompted a backlash and calls for the governor to take action.

Hobbs spokesperson Josselyn Berry late Monday posted an image on Twitter from the 1980 movie “Gloria,” showing a woman with a handgun in each hand. “Us when we see transphobes,” Berry wrote in an accompanying post that followed a prior message.

The post was made hours after a mass killing at a Nashville school where the shooter was identified by law enforcement authorities as a transgender person. The tweet was amplified Tuesday by Republican lawmakers and consultants, who panned it as tone deaf and advocating violence.

“Tone deaf”? I gave up on intellectual consistency in politics years ago, but even in an environment of low expectations, this really takes the cake. After spending years getting lectured about “violent imagery” in conservatism from the Left and how even normal debate is “violence,” Katie Hobbs’ press secretary tweets out a call to shoot “transphobes,” and most of the media shrugs it off.

Twelve years ago, the national media reacted to the Gabby Giffords shooting in Tucson with an instant and universal condemnation of … Sarah Palin. Why? Palin had run endorsement/support campaigns for Republicans in congressional districts, including Giffords’, with a map showing how her org was targeting the various districts for a GOP flip. The map used bulls-eye imagery, which the media claimed was the catalyst for the shooting. It turned out that the shooter was insane, had no connection to politics, and had likely never seen anything from the midterm campaign. That hasn’t stopped the national media from continuing to attempt to tie the shooting to Palin, including the New York Times’ revival of that attack in 2017, which led to a belated (and lame) retraction and a failed libel-defamation lawsuit.

Where’s the NY Times on a clear call to shoot dissenters by a senior Arizona administration official? Nowhere to be found, that’s where. Same with the Washington Post. A Bing news search of ‘Josselyn Berry transphobe’ this morning (~8:15 ET) only turns up eight links, in fact, including all of those above I listed. The others are HuffPost, which headlines the story as being about a “trans-rights gun meme”; Meaww, which headlines the controversy as being about “promoting guns”; and Newsweek, which only reports it via Kari Lake’s reaction:

Kari Lake Blasts ‘Media Bias’ Over Nashville ‘Transphobes’ Gun Post

I don’t want to quibble too much. At least these outlets covered the story in some fashion. Only eight media organizations decided that having the press secretary of a sitting US governor endorse shooting people over their political views noteworthy. The clear takeaway is that this is one of those (D)ifferent cases for the mainstream media, in which their (D)ata (D)etermines that an official’s (D)icta should be (D)efined in the most benign manner possible. Or when that’s impossible, ignored altogether.

That still leaves us with Berry and Hobbs. If Hobbs keeps her employed, she is endorsing Berry’s point of view. And Arizonans should demand to know just who else a Hobbs administration plans to shoot over their political views if Berry sticks around. On that note, I’ll let Matt Walsh have the last word:

This is the contact information for the governor’s office. I’ll be giving it out again tomorrow on my show. And the next day. And the day after. We are going to start holding these people to the same standard and the same rules. pic.twitter.com/VEqxaWAvmj

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 29, 2023

Update: Actually, I should let the last word go to … Keith Olbermann? Yes, indeed, Keith Olbermann. Credit where credit is due. He could have kept his mouth shut. So far, most of the Left is still doing just that. (To be clear, he’s talking about Berry, not Hobbs.)

This, from AZ Gov @katiehobbs' spokesperson Josselyn Berry hours after the Nashville school shooting, is abhorrent and indefensible. And to go 36 hours without comment?

Barring the most improbable of explanations, she must apologize – and resign.https://t.co/Ad3l8iHG2z pic.twitter.com/LMAIGEGE1r

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 29, 2023

Update: Fox News reports that Berry has resigned … before most media outlets even reported on the story, it seems:

🚨Breaking: Katie Hobbs's press secretary has resigned after posting a tweet that advocates violence against "transphobes." pic.twitter.com/rvKDc3vltQ

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) March 29, 2023

Still nothing as of yet (1:21 pm ET) at the NYT or the WaPo. Bet their readers will be surprised to learn of this, eh?