After Dayton and El Paso shootings, Mike Huckabee blames violence on 'lack of thought and prayers'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee suggested Monday that a "lack of thoughts are prayers" were a root cause of mass shootings in the U.S., after a weekend in which two separate incidents left 31 people dead.

The explanation came from a blog post on Huckabee's website, in which the Republican politician provided his thoughts on the shootings in El Paso, Tx., and Dayton, Ohio.

"Despite all those who are denouncing the idea of prayers for the victims (do a Google search for 'Thoughts and prayers are not enough' and see how many hits you get)," the post said. "I will continue to pray for the victims and their families and for an end to this mindless violence, and I hope you will, too."

Huckabee, who served as governor of Arkansas between 1996–2007 and also ran for president in 2008 and 2016, went on to describe what he called the "single biggest factor" behind mass shootings.

"In fact, amid all the finger-pointing and blame-laying and repulsive attempts to turn these tragedies to political advantage before the bodies are even cold, I would posit that the lack of thought and prayers is probably the single biggest factor in what is behind them," Huckabee wrote.

RELATED: Dayton, Ohio, mourns those lost in last weekend's mass shooting

Huckabee also called out specific politicians, such as Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Amy Klobuchar, who he said had been guilty of "politicizing the tragedy."

O'Rourke, who is from El Paso, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe" Monday that he believes President Trump's "open racism" had issued an "invitation to violence."

“Well, Jesus Christ, of course he’s racist,” O'Rourke said of Trump. “He’s been racist from day one.”

Huckabee's blog post responded to these attacks on the president, claiming O'Rourke had been untruthful in his comments.

“Beto” O’Rourke immediately tried to blame President Trump for the El Paso shooting, accusing him of being an “open, avowed racist” and “white nationalist” who is inciting racism and violence," Huckabee wrote. "For example, he said Trump called Mexicans “rapists and criminals.” Except that Trump didn’t do that. That story has been debunked repeatedly."

RELATED: Mass shooting at El Paso leaves more than 20 dead, dozens injured

The events in Dayton and El Paso brought the total number of mass shootings in the U.S. this year to 255, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit organization defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people are shot, not including the shooter.