At least 49 people are dead and 20 seriously injured after the shootings that took place in the city of Christchurch Friday.
The candidates' comments came as President Donald Trump on Friday morning offered his "warmest sympathy and best wishes" to the people of New Zealand, calling the shooting a "horrible massacre." He did not explicitly call out hate against Muslims in his tweet. A separate statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the US stands "in solidarity with the people of New Zealand and their government against this vicious act of hate."
Without directly naming the President, former Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to make an announcement about his 2020 plans as soon as April, appeared to rebuke Trump by saying "silence is complicity."
"Whether it is antisemitism in Pittsburgh, racism in Charlottesville, or the xenophobia and Islamophobia today in Christchurch, violent hate is on the march at home and abroad. We cannot stand by as mosques are turned into murder scenes," he tweeted.
"Silence is complicity. Our children are listening. The time to speak out is now."
Like Biden, some candidates drew parallels to other hate-fueled attacks against minority groups, including the 2015 mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina by a self-described white supremacist and the 2018 shooting at a synagogue in Pennsylvania by a man who had targeted Jews on social media.
"Charleston, Pittsburgh, and now Christchurch. Everyone should have the right to worship without fear, and an attack on a place of worship is terrorism perpetrated against all of us," Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tweeted.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York similarly tweeted, "We can't accept a world where people are murdered because of who they are and where they worship—whether it's mosques in Christchurch, an AME church in SC or a synagogue in PA. I'm praying for these communities and stand with them against hate, white supremacy and terrorism."
Sen. Cory Booker said he was "sickened" by the New Zealand news.
"The rising tide of white supremacy and Islamophobia around the globe must be met with our determination to work against hate," he tweeted
Former US Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas, who entered the 2020 Democratic primary on Thursday, tweeted Friday morning, "We don't back down in the face of Islamophobia and racism at home or abroad. We stand up, stand together and make it clear that terrorism won't be met with indifference but with action that honors our diversity as the people of the world. Thinking of our friends in New Zealand."
Here's a running list of 2020 reactions:
Gillibrand
Sen. Kamala Harris
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Former US Rep. John Delaney
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
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