From there, Tapper called out Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO), GOP Senate candidate JD Vance, and other Republicans seizing upon the incident to crack political jokes at Baldwin’s expense. He also accused them of insensitively disregarding the sadness that Hutchins’ family is currently going through.

“He did this, JD Vance, presumably because he thinks it will help him win supporters. He did it to win votes. In other words, the cruelty is a feature of his candidacy, not a bug. Vance is seemingly following the playbook of Donald Trump, whose response to the death of secretary Colin Powell a few days ago was to issue a statement attacking Powell, following similar attacks that he made against the late John McCain and the late John Dingell, after they had died.”

Tapper went on by denouncing the Republican Party for their repeated “violations of basic decency,” basing his argument on how the GOP has ostracized Liz Cheney while propping up Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“A longtime Republican official texted me after JD Vance’s tweet, ‘being a horrible person is now a job requirement in this party,’” Tapper concluded. “I hope to God that Republican official is wrong.”