On Thursday's Morning Joe, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough used the Kansas City parade shooting to break out into a commentary attacking Republicans for supporting "radical gun laws," leading co-host Mika Brzezinski to predict that Democrats would own issues like guns and immigration in this year's elections and to advise the audience not to vote for Republicans.
As correspondent Allison Barber reported from Kansas City, Missouri, she pushed the misleading liberal narrative that shootings are only a problem in the U.S.: "This is something that is so familiar in the United States of America. There's massive amounts of debates about why there's so much gun violence in this country -- and a lot of that has to do with politics -- but the numbers, they do not lie. This is part of who we are as Americans."
Barber cited the liberal Gun Violence Archive on its account of how many mass shootings have occurred so far in 2024, leading the liberal MSNBC hosts to comment on the issue:
SCARBOROUGH: And on guns, that is who we are as a nation right now, sadly.
BRZEZINSKI: Great point.
SCARBOROUGH: But that's a choice. It's a choice.
BRZEZINSKI: It is a choice.
Scarborough admitted that not much information has been released by police yet about the Kansas City case as he nevertheless complained:
There's been a proliferation of weapons -- dangerous weapons. We don't know what kind was used yesterday, but we've seen this proliferation of guns, and actually it's gotten -- as far as shootings go -- twice as bad with guns as when -- you look at the rise since Sandy Hook. ... Which was supposed to be this moment -- the breaking point when sanity returned to this debate.
After mentioning the often cited misleading polls claiming 90 percent of Americans support universal background checks, Scarborough then oddly suggested that loose gun laws are to blame for shootings on the West Coast and in D.C. even though those are Democrat-run areas with some of the strictest gun laws. Republicans are "radicals" enabling mass shootings?
...but, listen, 90 percent of Americans support background checks. Overwhelming majority of Americans -- about 80 percent -- support red flag laws. There are so many people that are fighting against these radical gun laws that are trying to make it easier for crazy people to get guns -- for people under 21 to get guns -- for even people under 18 to get guns. They want the proliferation of these guns all over the place, and it's led to a far more deadly -- deadly situation in places like Kansas City -- especially in places like Washington, D.C., the West Coast. I mean, we have to have a return to some sane gun safety laws that the overwhelming majority of Americans support.
The two then claimed Democrats would benefit politically as Brzezinski also claimed Democrats "own" Republicans on the immigration issue, which is odd because Republicans enjoy a large advantage on this issue. Even the last PBS/NPR poll showed Republicans had a 12-percent advantage on who would handle immigration best.
BRZEZINSKI: And I think this will be one of the key election issues -- this along with abortion along with immigration, which are issues now Democrats own.
SCARBOROUGH: Own.
BRZEZINSKI: They own over the Republicans.
SCARBOROUGH: They own it.
BRZEZINSKI: If you want progress on these three issues, you can't vote Republican in any election.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's Morning Joe
February 15, 2024
9:06 a.m. Eastern
ALLISON BARBER, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: This is something that is so familiar in the United States of America. There's massive amounts of debates about why there's so much gun violence in this country -- and a lot of that has to do with politics -- but the numbers, they do not lie. This is part of who we are as Americans. So far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 49 mass shootings in this country. They have been tracking those, and, since 2014, there have been over 4,700 mass shootings in this country alone. Mika?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: We're a month and a half into the new year.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: We really are.
BRZEZINSKI: NBC's Allison Barber, thank you very much for your reporting this morning.
SCARBOROUGH: And on guns, that is who we are as a nation right now, sadly.
BRZEZINSKI: Great point.
SCARBOROUGH: But that's a choice. It's a choice.
BRZEZINSKI: It is a choice.
SCARBOROUGH: There's been a proliferation of weapons -- dangerous weapons. We don't know what kind was used yesterday, but we've seen this proliferation of guns, and actually it's gotten -- as far as shootings go -- twice as bad with guns as when -- you look at the rise since Sandy Hook.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Which was supposed to be this moment.
BRZEZINSKI: Supposed to be the breaking point.
SCARBOROUGH: The breaking point when sanity returned to this debate. It still hasn't returned to the debate, but, listen, 90 percent of Americans support background checks. Overwhelming majority of Americans -- about 80 percent -- support red flag laws. There are so many people that are fighting against these radical gun laws that are trying to make it easier for crazy people to get guns -- for people under 21 to get guns -- for even people under 18 to get guns. They want the proliferation of these guns all over the place, and it's led to a far more deadly -- deadly situation in places like Kansas City -- especially in places like Washington, D.C., the West Coast. I mean, we have to have a return to some sane gun safety laws that the overwhelming majority of Americans support.
BRZEZINSKI: And I think this will be one of the key election issues -- this along with abortion along with immigration, which are issues now Democrats own.
SCARBOROUGH: Own.
BRZEZINSKI: They own over the Republicans.
SCARBOROUGH: They own it.
BRZEZINSKI: If you want progress on these three issues, you can't vote Republican in any election.
