Three of the four Sunday network morning news shows commented on Saturday’s New York Times front-page editorial calling for massive gun control, but it was The Federalist’s Ben Domenech and The Washington Post’s George Will that provided the most succinct takedowns of the liberal paper and the disconnect it exhibited in opinion between the liberal media and President Obama versus the American people.
Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Domenech brought up the editorial to opine how he found it “interesting to see the reaction” to the editorial, which showed him “that there is a real gap between what the President is saying and what people understand is the reality of this situation.”
Domenech elaborated by slamming the President by arguing:
You are not going to defeat these elements of radicalized Islam in this country with gun control measures that was not going to be something that would have prevented what happened in San Bernardino any more than you are going to defeat ISIS with a conference about the weather.
Further, The Federalist Publisher observed that, when it comes to the political debate on guns :
Republicans actually I think have the wind at their backs when they are running this criticism that basically the President is out of touch with reality and that this gun control measure, any gun control measure is not the real solution.
Over on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace provided Will with a head start by first alluding to The Times editorial and quoted a portion of it before allowing Will to respond. Will first declared that the paper finally did this in a formal manner considering the opinion by many that “The New York Times editorializes on the front page daily.”
Taking a dig at the level of impact the paper’s front-page editorials have had, Will mentioned that the last one in 1920 denouncing then-presidential candidate Warren G. Harding did not hinder his campaign since he “went on to win 60 percent of the popular vote.”
Putting that aside, Will addressed the call by The Times to ban guns that they dubbed “weapons of war”:
When they talk about weapons of war, I think the most readers of that editorial and perhaps the authors of it think that the weapons in use here, what are called assault weapons, fire more than one bullet per pull of the trigger in a constant burst. Those are called machine guns and they have been illegal in this country since 1934. In fact, the American people have shown by voting at the polling booth for defenders of the First or Second Amendment, but they also have voted with their feet by going to gun stores and what they want is control of their own guns.
The Fox News contributor concluded by citing a statistic regarding recent gun sales that has been frequently cited over the past few weeks by Second Amendment advocates:
This year on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 185,000 Americans got background checks for firearms. That's a one-day record in this country. So, the American people have made clear what they think about the Second Amendment and the usefulness of owning guns.
The relevant portion of the transcript from CBS’s Face the Nation on December 6 can be found below.
CBS’s Face the Nation
December 6, 2015
11:15 a.m. Eastern
BEN DOMENECH: You know, I think it was interesting to see the reaction this week from The New York Times running that front-page editorial as they did going after the gun issue. I think that there is a real gap between what the President is saying and what people understand is the reality of this situation. You are not going to defeat these elements of radicalized Islam in this country with gun control measures that was not going to be something that would have prevented what happened in San Bernardino any more than you are going to defeat ISIS with a conference about the weather. This is not something that you are going to be able to achieve and I think that the President is addressed tonight probably speak to these issues further but Republicans actually I think have the wind at their backs when they are running this criticism that basically the President is out of touch with reality and that this gun control measure, any gun control measure is not the real solution.
The relevant portion of the transcript from Fox News Sunday on December 6 can be found below.
Fox News Sunday
December 6, 2016
09:22 a.m. EasternCHRIS WALLACE: You know, as the President was on his initial discussion of this treating it as another mass shooting, he raised the issue of gun control and on Saturday in The New York Times, they ran a front page editorial for the first time since 1920 under the headline “The Gun Epidemic.” They write: “It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that people can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war.” George? Your thoughts.
GEORGE WILL: Well, leaving aside the fact that some of us think The New York Times editorializes on the front page daily and leaving aside the fact that last time they did was June 1920 when they deplored the nomination of Warren G. Harding, who then went on to win 60 percent of the popular vote. Leave that aside. When they talk about weapons of war, I think the most readers of that editorial and perhaps the authors of it think that the weapons in use here, what are called assault weapons, fire more than one bullet per pull of the trigger in a constant burst. Those are called machine guns and they have been illegal in this country since 1934. In fact, the American people have shown by voting at the polling booth for defenders of the First or Second Amendment, but they also have voted with their feet by going to gun stores and what they want is control of their own guns. This year on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 185,000 Americans got background checks for firearms. That's a one-day record in this country. So, the American people have made clear what they think about the Second Amendment and the usefulness of owning guns.
