CBS Tells Reporters To Cut ‘Transgender’ From Nashville Shooting Coverage

CBS News has made it known that its reporters are prohibited from using the term “transgender” with regards to the Nashville school shooter. Police verified that the shooter who killed three adults and three nine-year-olds at the Covenant School was a biological woman who identified as male, and that the shooter was under investigation to determine if gender identity played a role. However, CBS executives told the newsroom that the shooter’s gender identity was not confirmed and therefore using the term “transgender” has no relevance to the crime.

Media outlets have been pointing the finger at Republicans for the massacre and have positioned transgender individuals as victims of the tragedy. Republicans, according to The Nation columnist and MSNBC contributor Elie Mystal, are complicit in these murders, and are “the party of literal death.”

Reporters have been instructed to say “police identified the suspect as a 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who [sic] they shot and killed at the scene,” and to move on without discussing the transgender detail. The memo emphasized the need to focus on important points of investigation, community, and solutions.

The White House’s response to the attack has also been criticized. President Joe Biden joked about ice cream hours after the shooting before addressing the killings. He later released a statement denouncing “violence against transgender women.”