This segment Monday from Fox News is perhaps the single most succinct example of media obfuscation over the shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.

Robert Lewis Dear, the suspect accused of killing three people, including one police officer, and wounding nine others, was reported to have said “no more baby parts,” upon being arrested. Planned Parenthood drew a connection between Dear’s actions and the violent rhetoric used by Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail.

“Politicizing a tragedy,” said Fox News host Heather Childers. “Planned Parenthood blaming GOP rhetoric for the deadly shooting — and now Republican presidential candidates are firing back.”

“Firing back” — an unfortunate turn of phrase.

At the end of the segment, Fox News reporter James Rosen noted: “Published reports say that Robert Lewis Dear’s comment about ‘baby parts’ occurred amid a longer set of remarks about President Obama and politics in general — that police reportedly described as ‘rantings.'”

The Fox segment also showed clips of GOP presidential candidates including Carly Fiorina, who said: “What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts, is this is typical left-wing tactics.

And from Mike Huckabee: “To blame people who have a strong philosophical disagreement with the dismembering of human babies, and with the selling of body parts — to say that we would like to retaliate by sending some madman into a clinic to kill people — God knows that’s not what anybody would want.”

We are not saying that all people who oppose abortion are directly responsible for the shootings at abortion clinics. But when an accused killer has reportedly declared to police that he did it in order to ensure “no more baby parts,” and also made comments opposed to President Obama — a report that so far has not been disputed — how exactly can anyone in the media even try to cloud the discussion over that individual’s own motives?

Screengrab via Fox News