'F--king baby killer': Arizona congressman calls out Ted Cruz, GOP leaders in wake of Uvalde shooting

Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego pulled absolutely no punches in his response to the tragic mass shooting that happened at an Uvalde, Texas elementary school Tuesday afternoon, answering his colleagues' tweets of "thoughts and prayers" with aggressive and explicit language, even going so far as to call Texas Sen. Ted Cruz a "f--king baby killer."

Shortly after news broke of the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which has so far claimed the lives of 21 people, including 19 children, Gallego started his tweet storm with a simple message to the National Rifle Association: "F--k you @NRA." The organization is holding its annual conference this weekend in Houston, where speakers will include former President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Cruz, who caught the brunt of Gallego's ire. 

"F--k you @tedcruz you care about a fetus but you will let our children get slaughtered. Just get your ass to Cancun. You are useless."

And just in case Gallego didn't think his point was made:

Gallego sent a similar message to California Rep. Darrell Issa, who quote-tweeted Abbott's statement about the shooting with a message stating, "Our thoughts and prayers are with these families." 

When challenged in the comments by a Twitter user who called Gallego one of the clowns who "probably don’t own a firearm, have never shot a firearm, nor understand the training that we go through to be responsible gun owners," Gallego reminded him and others on the platform that he's a Marine infantryman and Iraq war veteran who owns "several" weapons. 

Gallego did more than just rant aimlessly in the wake of Tuesday's tragedy. His next message was to Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, pushing her to end the filibuster in order to "pass sensible gun measures." He also challenged GOP members who soley focus on mental health during mass shooting instead of weapons, and he suggested changes and regulations to existing gun laws, including disallowing 18-year-olds from obtaining AR-variant rifles.

Gallego also responded to Cruz's suggestion that U.S. schools need armed cops at the doors by saying there was a time when armed cops weren't necessary at schools, adding a final plea: "we don’t have to live this way!"