“Face the Nation” anchor Margaret Brennan nailed Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer Sunday for posting a video on his Twitter page in which he was “exercising his Second Amendment rights” while firing a gun at a shooting range. “13 days to make history. Let’s #FirePelosi,” he said in the caption.
The assault of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband earlier this week has renewed scrutiny on far-right Republicans in Congress and their posts online. Brennan confronted Emmer, asking, “Why is there a gun in a political ad at all?“
He insisted it wasn’t an ad but rather just a tweet. That was neither here nor there for Brennan, who corrected herself and pressed on.
“A tweet. Hashtag Fire Pelosi with a weapon. Wouldn’t a pink slip be more fitting if it’s about firing her? Why a gun?” she asked.
The question led to crosstalk and repeated interruptions between the two as Emmer brought up the attack on Republican Congressman Steve Scalise in 2017 by a shooter who had volunteered for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign the previous year. Emmer said that nobody was “trying to equate Democrat rhetoric with those actions.” But Brennan pressed further.
“I’m not talking about your rhetoric. I’m talking about what you posted. You’re shooting a gun! Our viewers just saw it!” she said. “Republican candidates have spent more than 116 million on ads that mentioned Speaker Pelosi by name in their cycle. If this is about the issues, why shouldn’t [you] make it about the issues? Why not depersonalize it?”
Emmer responded by insisting that Republicans are making issue-based arguments for the midterms, specifically on soaring inflation and crime rates.
“Those are the issues that are top of mind for every voter in this country. That’s why they’re going to show up in – on the November 8th. And that’s why Republicans are going to win in the midterms,” he said.
Paul Pelosi was attacked in his San Francisco home early Friday morning by an assailant demanding to know Speaker Pelosi’s whereabouts. The suspect was arrested and was found to have spread far-right conspiracy theories online. He faces several felony charges, including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and burglary among others.
Watch Rep. Emmer’s interview on “Face the Nation” in the tweet clip above.
