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Last week, at his NATO Summit press conference, President Biden, in the midst of consistently demonstrating a widely-praised command of foreign policy issues, went on a small diatribe about gun violence, which included this memorable phrase:
"Control guns, not girls”
It was immediately resonant, drawing acclaim from many quarters. It’s the kind of simple yet powerful slogan that can propel a campaign into history. I was so taken with it that I launched a t-shirt campaign the following day; we’ve already sold more than 300. (Purchase yours here: https://www.bonfire.com/controlgunsnotgirls/)
Full video of the President’s remarks are below (the gun reform portion starts at 2:20):
The President has a history of making prescient remarks; anyone remember the USA Today op-ed he wrote on the threat of COVID in early 2020, just six weeks before the shutdown?
Two days after this presser, a 20 year-old gunman used an AR-15-style rifle purchased by his father to fire eight rounds at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One round went through the upper part of Trump’s right ear, while other shots critically wounded two audience members behind him and killed a third: 50 year-old Corey Comperatore, who was shielding his two daughters from the gunfire.
I want to quickly point out that I can’t imagine being the family of Mr. Comperatore and hearing elected officials like Sen. Marco Rubio claim that God saved Donald Trump, the implication being that those wounded and killed in senseless acts of gun violence were forgotten by God.
That's not faith. That’s warping and exploiting the love of God for cultish ends.
This horrific tragedy should never have happened. No civilian should be able to purchase an AR-15-style rifle, a weapon of war, but moreover, if we treated firearms with respect in this country, there would be comprehensive safety, licensing, and registration regulations similar to those we have for cars.
In the aftermath, every major Democratic leader in the country immediately condemned this act of cowardice. The President—in addition to delivering an immediate on-camera statement—called Trump to offer support, assembled federal resources to investigate the tragedy, and gave a moving national address from the Oval Office demanding a wholesale rejection of political violence.
Meanwhile, a number of Republican elected officials and pundits chose to politicize the tragedy while the victims were still being helped. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio—Trump’s likely running mate—immediately blamed the assassination attempt on President Biden. Congressman Mike Collins (GA-10) histrionically claimed that Pres. Biden “sent the orders” for Trump to be assassinated.
I find this fascinating given that the only incendiary rhetoric literally calling for political violence has been from the Republican Party, particularly in the past few months.
Like Kevin D. Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the unabashedly fascist Project 2025, who said, two weeks ago, that the country “is in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
“Bloodless.”
That same week, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor who’s been endorsed by Trump, told a church congregation that “some folks need killing” and that “Some liberal somewhere is gonna say that sounds awful. Too bad. Get mad at me if you want to. Some folks need killing. It’s time for someday to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity.”
Or how about last year when numerous Republican Members of Congress started wearing AR-15 pins on their suits while at the Capitol, handed out by Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who owns a stake in the company that sells them.
The AR-15 and its variants are responsible for most of the mass shootings that have become some of the most tragic markers on the American psyche in recent memory: Sandy Hook, Uvalde, Route 91 Harvest Festival, among others, and, of course, this past weekend’s assassination attempt on Trump and the murder of Mr. Comperatore.
There is only one major political party using and condoning and enabling violent rhetoric. Just one. It’s the Republican Party.
Don't let any political journalist or outlet opine about politicization while they fail to hold accountable the GOP’s horrific rhetoric. Don't let them shame you into ignoring this appalling double standard.
Control guns, not girls.
Control Guns, Not Girls