A Kentucky professor has been placed on unpaid leave following an insensitive comment about Saturday’s failed assassination attempt against former President Trump.
John James, an English professor at Bellarmine University, was placed on leave after a social media post of his in which he wrote, ‘If you’re gonna shoot, man, don’t miss.’
The comment was posted along with a New York Times story reporting that Mr Trump was safe after the attempt on his life circulated X, formerly Twitter.
Bellarmine, a Catholic university in Louisville, said that words and actions condoning violence are ‘unacceptable and contrary to our values, which call for respecting the intrinsic value and dignity of every individual.’
Mr James’ comment, which came from a screenshot taken of an Instagram story, which is designed to disappear in 24 hours, was broadcast by Libs of TikTok, a popular conservative social media account.
John James is an English professor at Bellarmine University in Kentucky. He was placed on unpaid leave after making a hateful comment about the former President’s recent assassination attempt
The announcement came after his post was re-posted by the far-right account Libs of TikTok on X
The account’s post garnered thousands of comments and millions of views.
Most who commented on the post said things like, ‘He should be fired. Period.’ and ‘Not a good look for the Catholic University. Be a shame if enough people sent it to the governing dioceses of the school.’
It’s not clear how many people viewed Mr James’ original post in Instagram, where his page has been removed. His Facebook page is also down.
A spokesperson for the university said that once his post had been brought to their attention, most likely due to pressure from some of the 3.2 million Libs of TikTok followers, ‘That individual has been placed on immediate unpaid leave.’
Some of the university’s mission statement, which commenters said ran counter to Mr James’ statement, reads that the goal of education is to ‘search for the true self, the interconnectedness of life and the solidarity of the human spirit, which transcends ethnic, religious, and social divisions’.
But one of the commenters said: ‘These people have no care for human life. Only contempt for those that don’t conform.’
Another said: ‘Pretty wild an educator would say this. @bellarmineU this the kind of institution you run?
Still another said: ‘I’m Catholic. This is not the way I was raised or taught by the many nuns and priests who were involved in my education.’
Bellarmine University is a small liberal arts college attended by around 3,900 students.
In 2021, a reported 14 of those students graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English, the subject Mr James teaches.
While Mr James’ social media accounts have been deactivated, followers of Libs of TikTok said they aimed to ‘make him famous.’
Mr James is far from the only citizen to face consequences for insensitive comments about the assassination attempt against former President Trump.
On Monday, Janiece Binns, a nurse at New York Presbyterian hospital, was fired after Libs of TikTok reposted her online post just hours after the attack occurred that said: ‘Like, bro. Work on your skills’ and called Trump’s would-be assassin ‘the most hated c*** on the planet’ for missing.
Her comments had sparked a furious backlash online against the hospital, with many demanding she be removed from her post.
One user said: ‘Imagine receiving care from a woman who wishes you were dead if you vote differently than she does. That blows my mind after working with so many great nurses.’
And another said: ‘Can you imagine what she would do to a patient if she found out they were a Trump supporter? She should not be in a position to care for people when a human life means so little to her. Do better.’
Nurses must be impartial in their profession and treat all patients equally.
She has since deactivated her social media accounts and cannot be reached by DailyMail.com for comments.
President Trump was mere millimeters away from enduring a moral head wound when shots fired at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
The assailant, Thomas Matthew, 20, opened fire at the former president with an AR-style rifle from a roof 130 yards from the rally stage. He shot and killed a fan of the former president’s, a firefighter who shielded his family from the gunfire.
Mr Trump said of the attack: ‘I rarely look away from the crowd. Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?
‘The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn, but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount,’ he added, saying he survived ‘by luck or by God’.
