Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) wants you to know that the difference between him and other 2020 presidential candidates is that he will be the one to effectively tackle gun violence.

That and, as a “man of faith,” he views the offer of thoughts and prayers after mass shooting tragedies as nothing more than “bull sh*t.”

CNN reports on remarks Booker made on Saturday night’s “The Axe Files” with David Axelrod:

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker says he’s fed up with inaction on gun reform after mass shootings, calling the oft-repeated refrain of politicians who offer “thoughts and prayers” to victims “just bullsh**.”

“When I’m President of the United States, I’m taking a fight to this issue like folks have never seen before, because we’re better than this is a country. It’s a uniquely American problem. No other country has this kind of carnage,” Booker said to David Axelrod on “The Axe Files,” airing Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on CNN. “We are not going to give thoughts and prayers, which to me is just bullsh**. And I’m sorry to say it as a man of faith, but I was taught that faith without works is dead.”

Watch video of his remarks below:

"We are not going to give thoughts and prayers, which to me is just bullsh–,” 2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker says about his gun violence prevention plan.

Watch the full interview on “The Axe Files” at 7 p.m. ET on CNN. https://t.co/kOAHPwUe8E pic.twitter.com/wry7m3bdwH

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) May 11, 2019

There are a few things wrong with his statement but I’m going to focus on just a couple of them:

1) Offering thoughts and prayers after senseless tragedies – like the one that happened in my home city of Charlotte a couple of weeks ago where two UNCC students were killed and four more injured – is not “empty words” and “bull sh*t.”

Thoughts and prayers provide an immeasurable feeling of comfort and peace and – for some – answers in the aftermath of tragedy and loss. In the days after the UNCC gunman stormed the Kennedy building at the university, prayer vigils and prayer walks were held on campus. Individually, students held hands, hugged each other, and prayed together.

People all across the city and state – and the nation – offered their thoughts and prayers for Charlotte in the aftermath. As a person of faith myself who was in so much shock after it happened, it provided me comfort and solace as I began the grieving and healing processes.

Any person of faith who has read and studied the Bible knows better than to say that offering up thoughts and prayers is meaningless. It’s reprehensible that Sen. Booker has decided to play the “who is the truuuue person of faith” game but he’s on the campaign trail, so I guess that’s to be expected. Shame.

2) Booker’s invocation of “faith without works” is insulting, as it insinuates one of two things: a) that people of faith who offer thoughts and prayers either have no solution in response to gun tragedies, or b) that people of faith who disagree with Booker and other Democrats on how to address gun violence in schools, the workplace, etc. are not operating from a position of good faith.

As I wrote in my column last week for North State Journal, it shouldn’t be that way, but it is:

What [Democrats] don’t understand as that in the aftermath, defenders of gun rights grieve, too. They assess what happened and think over and over again of ways the shooting might have been stopped, or the victim count contained to a minimum. They have their own solutions in mind, but few people want to listen.

Some gun rights proponents have been victims of school shootings themselves. Or have loved ones who were. They, too, think we could do more to prevent them in the future. But few people are willing to listen, because their solutions don’t fit the narrative.

No “side” wants to see more school shooting victims. All “sides” want students to feel safe at school. These are common goals. But how to get there is the source of intense debate.

In reality, the only “bull sh*t” on display here is Booker’s phony one-upmanshipping – when it comes to demeaning pro-Second Amendment people of faith by questioning their commitment to comforting their communities in times of tragedy, and the ways they seek to prevent future tragedies.

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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–