The New York Daily News cover published Thursday sparked outrage among many for appearing to mock the prayers that Republican politicians offered the victims of Wednesday's shooting spree in San Bernardino.
The newspaper's headline, "God Isn't Fixing This," surveyed responses from Republican presidential candidates and House speaker Paul Ryan, highlighting their use of the word "prayer."
"As the latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in a pool of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continued to hide behind meaningless platitudes," the front-page headline continued.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick condemned the headline on social media,
according to the Dallas Morning News.
"I'm disgusted by this morning's New York Daily News cover, which discounts the power of prayer and pushes a political agenda in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings," Patrick wrote on Facebook alongside a reimagined cover that has since been deleted. "I would like to reiterate my invitation to pray for the victims and their families during these dark times."
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who was one of the targets of the newspaper's cover, responded on social media, calling the headline "deplorable."
"I was so disturbed by that cover," Fox News co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said Thursday,
according to the Washington Post. "I say this — if you want to line up with terrorists and try to take God away, you're not on the right side. That's all I'd have to say to those politicians who want to tell you to stop praying."
New York Daily News editor in chief Jim Rich
attempted to brush back criticism with a statement on Thursday.
"The Daily News' front page is not, in any way, shape or form, condemning prayer or religion," Rich said in his statement. "Anyone suggesting otherwise is either — intentionally or unintentionally — misconstruing the point, which is that most GOP politicians have offered nothing but empty platitudes and angry rhetoric in response to the ongoing plague of gun violence in our country."