Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is catching heat for publishing a statement that critics say legitimizes the alleged anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim grievances of the New Zealand shooter.

But the congressman’s response couldn’t have possibly been written with a nod to the gunman’s supposed complaints, Connie Hair, Gohmert’s chief of staff, told the Washington Examiner. He knew “literally nothing” about what happened in Christchurch when he crafted his statement except for what he had been told by Fox News hosts during an interview early Friday morning, she said.