Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to skewer her Democrat colleague Joe Manchin over his response to this week’s shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
On Thursday, the Democratic congresswoman retweeted a post quoting Mr Manchin for saying that he has “never been in this frame of mind” on tightening gun control following the shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
“I’ve never been in this frame of mind, I can’t get my grandchildren out of my mind,” Mr Manchin reportedly toldPunchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman.
Another reporter, NBC News’s Vaughn Hillyard, highlighted the similarity between Mr Manchin’s remarks this week and those in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, however.
Mr Hillyard tweeted: “Fwiw, Manchin told me this quote just over a week after Parkland in 2018: ‘It feels a little different. I’ve got grandchildren also in the school systems, and I understand the concerns that every parent and grandparent has.’
The 2018 shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School led to calls from gun control campaigners and Demcrats for greater restrictions on owning firearms across the whole US.
But Republicans in Congress have largely stood in the way of any proposals to introduce tougher gun laws. But on Thursday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had instructed Senator John Cornyn of Texas to begin negotiating with Democratic Senators.
On Thursday, Mr Manchin met with fellow Democrat Chris Murphy and about eight other senators to seek mutual ground on gun legislation after a domestic terrorism bill passed the House but was blocked in the Senate.
Laws theoretically require the support of at least 60 senators to pass under a rule known as the filibuster.
Mr Manchin, who has long been a thorn in the side of progressive Democrats when it comes to passing legislation, told reporters that he hoped there was new appetite for a law on background checks for gun sales.
The West Virginia Democratic Senator and former governor previously touted his support from the National Rifle Association, even running an advertisement in 2010 showing him shooting Democrats’ proposed climate legislation with a gun.
Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, Mr Manchin partnered with Pennyslvania Republican Senator Pat Tommey on a bill requiring tougher background checks for gun owners.
Mr Toomey was reported as saying however that he doubted there was enough support for such a bill in the wake of Uvalde, despite the deaths of 19 children and two teachers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will give bipartisan negotiations two weeks.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
