The tragedy unfolded when Robert “Robin” Westman, a biological male who identified as female, stormed Annunciation Catholic School and opened fire. Two children were killed, 17 others wounded — 14 of them students — before Westman took his own life. Beyond the horrific violence itself, the attack carried chilling details: Westman had scribbled “kill Donald Trump” and other extremist phrases onto ammunition magazines.

Yet during coverage, Trey Gowdy, once one of Congress’ fiercest conservative interrogators, called for a national “debate” on the Second Amendment, questioning how many more tragedies must occur before restricting firearms is on the table. “It’s always a young white male, almost always,” Gowdy said — a remark critics quickly blasted as inaccurate, pointing out the shooter was transgender and motivated by leftist rage, not some conservative stereotype.

The response was swift. Viewers noted that Gowdy’s framing sounded almost identical to CNN and MSNBC pundits, who often use such tragedies to push gun control while ignoring inconvenient facts about the shooters themselves. For many on the right, it marked yet another case of Fox News drifting leftward, adopting narratives that undercut the values of the very audience that built its dominance.

Townhall’s Matt Vespa didn’t mince words, saying conservatives expect media honesty about what drives these crimes. Westman, like several recent shooters, was part of the transgender movement that the left shields from scrutiny. Instead of pointing to the radical ideologies that fueled the massacre, Gowdy shifted blame onto gun ownership itself — a move critics saw as surrendering the debate before it began.

The incident reignited frustrations with Fox News, which in recent years has faced backlash from its core viewers for softening its coverage, hiring left-leaning commentators, and failing to draw sharp contrasts with the liberal media machine. For conservatives, Gowdy’s remarks symbolized what happens when even stalwart voices bend under pressure: the left sets the terms, and the truth about cultural rot behind these shootings gets buried.

Meanwhile, the Minneapolis attack is being investigated not only as a mass shooting but as a hate crime. Reports confirm the shooter targeted a Catholic school, raising deeper questions about anti-Christian bias, radical gender ideology, and political hatred festering on the far left.

At a time when parents are demanding accountability and answers, many conservatives say the last thing they need is their own news outlets echoing the same tired gun control rhetoric that ignores the real drivers of violence. For them, Fox’s coverage wasn’t just disappointing — it was a betrayal.