White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted MSNBC host and former Biden aide Jen Psaki on Thursday for her "utterly disrespectful" comments about prayer following a deadly church school shooting.
Authorities said at least two children were killed and more than a dozen others wounded when a shooter opened fire during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis Wednesday. Shortly after the attack, Psaki dismissed "thoughts and prayers" in response to the tragedy.
"Prayer is not freaking enough. 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," Psaki wrote on X.
During a White House press briefing, a reporter asked Leavitt about Psaki's remarks, which had already sparked backlash online.
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"I saw the comments of my predecessor, Ms. Psaki, and frankly, I think they are 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 and who believe that in a time of mourning like this-when beautiful young children were killed while praying in a church," Leavitt said.
She continued, "It is utterly disrespectful to deride the power of prayer in this country, and it is disrespectful to the millions of Americans of faith. And I would encourage Ms. Psaki to pray for these families themselves, who need it right now more than ever."
Psaki also used her MSNBC show Wednesday night to double down on her criticism of prayer.
"Half the politicians in our country have little more to offer than thoughts and prayers," Psaki said in a tearful monologue. "That is all they are offering. 'Join all of us in praying for the victims' was Vice President JD Vance's response today. That's what he said. That's it. 'Please join me in praying for everyone involved,' Trump wrote. We have seen this play out over and over again. There is a shooting. Then come the thoughts and prayers, and then comes the attempt to shift the focus. This is what always happens."
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Vance pushed back on Psaki's comments, defending the role of prayer in times of grief.
"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," Vance wrote on X, adding, "Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?"
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In a follow-up post, Vance added, "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?"
Fox News Digital reached out to Psaki and MSNBC for comment.
