On Tuesday's PBS NewsHour show, host Amna Nawaz was still fixated on promoting the views of liberals who try to blame Governor Ron DeSantis for a racist shooting spree in Jacksonville, Florida as the PBS host interviewed the mayor of the city, Donna Deegan, an elected Democrat.
After spending time discussing Hurricane Idalia's threat to Florida, Nawaz turned her attention to the hate crime in which four black Florida residents were murdered. She began by reflexively bringing up the issue of gun control:
Mayor Deegan, it's been noted the alleged gunman in this case had a 2016 domestic violence incident, also was involuntarily committed for 72 hours back in 2017. He was a minor at the time. He was still able to legally purchase two AR-15 style weapons that he used in this attack. Should he have been able to?
After Deegan responded by misleadingly calling the civilian version of an AR-15 a "weapon of war" as she made the liberal argument that civilians do not need such rifles. Nawaz then followed up by trying to implicate Governor DeSantis in the attack:
As you saw and we have reported, Governor DeSantis attended a vigil on Sunday. He was booed by people in the community there, and I want to point you towards a line in an opinion piece that appeared in the Florida Times-Union where columnist Nate Monroe partly laid the blame of that shooting on leaders like Mr. DeSantis.
She then added:
This is what he wrote. Quote: "Wars on 'woke' and villainizing 'diversity, equity and inclusion' and peddling the fictitious chivalry of the nation's slave-holding founders -- it is catnip for awful people with awful ideas."
Mayor Deegan, do you agree with that? Those policies, does that language -- those contribute to these kinds of attacks?
After Mayor Deegan responded by complaining about divisive rhetoric, but then also gave Governor DeSantis credit for attending the funeral for the shooting victims, Nawaz followed up by bringing up the issue of whether Confederate statues should be taken down in Jacksonville.
On the previous day, Nawaz had similarly brought up the issue of DeSantis being booed when he attended the funeral, leading Errin Haines of The19th to go negative on the Republican governor.
This episode of PBS NewsHour was sponsored in part by Consumer Cellular. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows, click "expand" to read:
PBS NewsHour
August 29, 2023
7:28 p.m. EasternAMNA NAWAZ: Mayor Deegan, it's been noted the alleged gunman in this case had a 2016 domestic violence incident, also was involuntarily committed for 72 hours back in 2017. He was a minor at the time. He was still able to legally purchase two AR-15 style weapons that he used in this attack. Should he have been able to?
MAYOR DONNA DEEGAN (D-JACKSONVILLE): Well, look, I don't believe that -- I think that-- I think that it's far too easy to get these weapons of war. I don't understand why anyone really needs one, but, at the end of the day, that is the legal situation here in Florida. They are very easy to buy, and this gentleman was able to go and find one relatively easily. And, as you know, he had a manifesto that he wrote that was just full of hate for black people. And he took those guns and he took the lives of three precious people here in our community, and I think it's so unfortunate that folks like him can buy guns that easily, especially given his background.
NAWAZ: As you saw and we have reported, Governor DeSantis attended a vigil on Sunday. He was booed by people in the community there, and I want to point you towards a line in an opinion piece that appeared in the Florida Times-Union where columnist Nate Monroe partly laid the blame of that shooting on leaders like Mr. DeSantis.
This is what he wrote. Quote: "Wars on 'woke' and villainizing 'diversity, equity and inclusion' and peddling the fictitious chivalry of the nation's slave-holding founders -- it is catnip for awful people with awful ideas."
Mayor Deegan, do you agree with that? Those policies, does that language -- those contribute to these kinds of attacks?
DEEGAN: Look, I ran for this office on unity -- I said that we needed to stop the divisive rhetoric. We needed to stop having a "them versus us" mentality, and I believe that divisive rhetoric -- I believe that policies that divide -- I believe that saying that slavery may have been beneficial -- things like that do not help to bring our communities together. Now, you know, I have to say that I'm glad that Governor DeSantis was here for that vigil. I was there also. And I think that it's -- it is -- if we are ever going to have unity in our community and in our state and our nation, we have to begin communicating with each other. And at least because he was here, he saw that pain, and I hope in some way that it may have affected him.
NAWAZ: It's about bringing your community together. Residents will also say it's about making sure they feel safe. For black residents specifically, as you know, we've had a lot in the last few days about the long history of violence against black residents in Florida and Jacksonville, in particular, over America's history like a number of Southern cities. You've had a fight in your city about removing confederate statues. There were Nazis hanging flags over highways last year. What do you say to black residents of Jacksonville who do not feel safe right now?
