The set of “Morning Joe” came in for a moment of testiness on Friday courtesy of regular guest Donny Deutsch, who interrupted a long monologue Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) about how to address the nation’s recent spate of gun violence.
“We have to get rid of the assault weapons!” Deutsch shouted at Stivers. “You know what we need to do!”
The moment prompted a rebuke from show co-host and former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough.
“OK, OK, OK. Let’s be respectful. And, Congressman, we greatly appreciate you being with us,” said Scarborough.
Stivers ended the segment shortly thereafter by thanking Scarborough and fellow co-host Willie Geist for the opportunity to be on the show.
He did not thank Deutsch, who was seated right next to him.
The full segment focused broadly on a rich but dry debate mostly between Scarborough and Stivers about the appropriate measures that should be taken to curb gun violence. Stivers insisted that the AR-15 — the weapon used in the recent massacre in Parkland, Fla., was just misunderstood.
“An AR-15 is not a military weapon. It is made to look like it,” said Stivers. “There are 2.5 million AR-15s in this country already, and unless you’re going to go in and get rid of those, we need to be talking holistically about school safety.”
It’s been about two weeks since the massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which left 17 dead.
The issue of gun control — which always resurfaces after mass shootings — has taken on renewed and sustained focus thanks in large part to the effort of social media-savvy students who survived the shooting.