Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:06 pm
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) went on CNN and helped the Democratic protest get stronger with a disastrous interview that dismissed the American people’s concerns about gun violence with NRA talking points.
Video of Ryan on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer:
Speaker Paul Ryan to @wolfblitzer: House sit-in on guns is a "publicity stunt" https://t.co/44kEXII1KZ https://t.co/fJHSNpBcG2
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— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) June 22, 2016
During an interview on CNN, Speaker Ryan said, “First of all they know that we will not bring a bill that takes away a person’s constitutionally guaranteed rights without their due process. We don’t agree with that and the Senate already doesn’t agree with that. I think the point here, Wolf, is that this is a publicity stunt. They’re trying to get you to ask me those questions for publicity’s sake. This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem. This is trying to get attention.”
Ryan denied that the NRA had anything to do with nothing happening on gun control, and said that the Constitution is the reason why Republicans are blocking all gun control bills.
It is interesting that Republicans never cared about the due process violations of the no-fly list and terror watch list until it involved the ability of domestic terrorists to buy guns. Ryan also claimed no responsibility for turning off the C-SPAN cameras.
Speaker Ryan spent the rest of the interview trying to dodge questions about Donald Trump.
By criticizing Democrats for trying to bring attention to the gun violence issue and get action, Paul Ryan made things worse. Ryan never struck a tone of compromise or willingness to work with the Democrats on a solution. Instead, Speaker Ryan continued to use the NRA’s talking points about due process while denying votes on legislation that would make it more difficult for terrorists to buy deadly weapons.
Republicans are losing this fight in the court of public opinion, and Speaker Ryan’s smug dismissal of the gun violence problem just made things a whole lot worse for the Republican Party. Republicans continue to side with terrorists and the industry that makes money off the fear that created by each mass shooting.
Paul Ryan’s CNN interview is proof of why the bloodshed will go unchecked until Republicans lose their majorities in the House and Senate.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
