A leaked memo revealed that the House Republican strategy is to downplay the role of white supremacy while blaming the left for mass shootings.
Congressional Republicans recently circulated talking points on gun violence that falsely described the El Paso massacre and other mass shootings as “violence from the left.â€
A document obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and sent by House Republicans provides a framework for how to respond to anticipated questions like, “Why won’t you pass legislation to close the ‘gun show loophole’ in federal law?†and “Why shouldn’t we ban high-capacity magazines?” The answers are boilerplate Republican arguments against tougher gun restrictions. But it also included this question: “Do you believe white nationalism is driving more mass shootings recently?†The suggested response is to steer the conversation away from white nationalism to an argument that implies both sides are to blame.
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“White nationalism and racism are pure evil and cannot be tolerated in any form,” the document said. “We also can’t excuse violence from the left such as the El Paso shooter, the recent Colorado shooters, the Congressional baseball shooter, Congresswoman Giffords’ shooter and Antifa.”
Republicans Are Lying To The Country About Gun Violence
The NRA/GOP position is both wildly unpopular and totally unsustainable, so Republicans aren’t trying to defend their policy of giving white supremacist mass shooters easy access to high capacity weapons. Instead, the GOP is lying to America about who is behind the violence and what can be done.
Forget about dealing with the problem of mass shootings, Republicans refuse to confront the facts of the problem.
Time is running out on Republicans. The impact of each mass shooting is creating a cumulative effect of pushing the country toward stronger action on guns and gun violence. Republican lies aren’t fooling anyone, as they are only costing more people their lives, and delaying the inevitable policy response to mass shootings and gun violence.
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
