While Tran has since deleted and revised the graphic, his campaign has yet to issue a public apology for the insensitive, violent implications of the original.
Late last week, Congressional candidate Derek Tran posted a campaign graphic to Twitter which he hoped would draw attention to his race for California’s 45th Congressional District. It undoubtedly did attract a great amount of attention for the Democrat challenger, but for all the wrong reasons. Namely, Tran’s graphic features a gun pointed directly at the head of his opponent, Congresswoman Michelle Steel.
The image sparked widespread and immediate condemnation from constituents.
The graphic was intended as a critique of Rep. Steel’s strong support for gun rights and her “A Grade” rating from the National Rifle Association.
Many called for Tran to take responsibility for the ad’s troubling imagery. Many of these responses are no longer visible because Tran, deleted the post.
It has since been replaced with an altered version where both Rep. Steel’s head and the gun have been repositioned to avoid the appearance of direct threat. This is a direct acknowledgment that the original had violent implications. Nevertheless, neither Tran nor his campaign team have issued any form of apology and have ignored requests for clarification.
“Your original tweet had the gun pointed at Rep. Steel’s head; you silently deleted it. But, the damage was done: you sent a murderous message to your deranged fans,” writes one Twitter/X user.
On his campaign website, Tran claims that “gun violence is sadly on the top of his mind almost daily.” That makes it all the more concerning that he could publish a graphic that is suggestive of violence against a political opponent, understood its inappropriateness, revise the original, and fail to apologize—all the while demonstrating a lack of sensitivity and, later, a lack of remorse.
