Ever since Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” gave an interview with GQ Magazine discussing his views on gay marriage, the folks at MSNBC have been on a tirade against the reality TV star with contributors to the “Lean Forward” network going so far as to say Robertson’s comments are “part of majority white supremacist culture.”
MSNBC’s latest attempt to vilify the “Duck Dynasty” family came during a January 3 segment with host Thomas Roberts, where he and guest Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence tried to vilify the family for teaming up with Mossberg to design and sell their own line of firearms. After railing against Phil Robertson for his past comments, Roberts then pushed Mr. Everitt to promote his organization’s anti-gun efforts:
So this family earned $200,000 per episode that season and they represent and they speak to a large swath of the country. Primarily the stereotype almost that you just pointed out. But how do you try to combat that?
Roberts then brought up a new study on gun violence soon to be released by Yahoo! News:
Do reports like that move the needle in the message that you're trying to put out there and get people's attention about what it means to have a gun control and gun reform conversation in this country?
This allowed Everitt to rail against the “Duck Dynasty” guns and tried to elicit controversy over a popular television show marketing their product to a conservative audience:
I think sadly every day more people are being pulled into this conversation because they're losing loved ones or they're being injured and their lives are being catastrophically affected. In terms of the dynamics of mass shootings, you mentioned semiautomatic firearms being used. The other very common element here obviously is high capacity ammunition magazines, and of course that ties into the Duck dynasty story where they have now decided in addition to traditional hunting firearms, to also try to market some semi—automatic firearms that accept 25-round magazines which is obviously not necessary for plinking around your house.
Roberts and his guest seem shocked that both the Robertson family and Mossberg guns would try to license a line of guns to viewers of “Duck Dynasty” and instead have chosen to present the deal as somehow scary and out of line with American values. Such vilification of gun owners should come as no surprise given MSNBC’s crusade against the Robertson family, and this segment plays into the anti-gun mentality pushed by MSNBC.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
MSNBC Live
January 3, 2014
11:18 a.m. Eastern
THOMAS ROBERTS: Well as we look at that, because look at this, the Duck Commander company itself, it's worth a reported $400 million through the sale of duck calls, other items that they produce. We've got 11.8 million viewers tuning in for the premiere of season 4 Ladd. So this family earned $200,000 per episode that season and they represent and they speak to a large swath of the country. Primarily the stereotype almost that you just pointed out. But how do you try to combat that? Because, obviously they're within their rights to go ahead and do this. This is all legal.
LADD EVERITT: Well, look, I mean I think the Robertson family is banking on being able to market firearms, you know, by issuing some of these very extreme political comments and hoping that it appeals to basically a swath of far right-wing Americans that they assume are their main customer base. I'm hoping that backfires. When you poll gun owners in this country, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of them are very moderate in their views. And I think many of them will not embrace the type of, you know, misogynist, racist, anti-gay comments that Phil Robertson is making. And my hope here is that this strategy, if it is indeed a strategy, will backfire on them.
ROBERTS: As we look at the tragedy of mass shootings in this country Ladd, we've got Yahoo! News releasing findings from a new report on shootings saying it’s going to be unveiled in the coming weeks in an FBI bulletin. But it found that mass shootings were two or more lives are claimed are becoming a lot more frequent in our country. It also found that most shootings, 40% take place at businesses, 29% at our schools. Handguns are the most often weapon used, and that's in 59% of mass shootings. And shooters are 94% male. So when you hear numbers like that and see the stats just adding up, do reports like that move the needle in the message that you're trying to put out there and get people's attention about what it means to have a gun control and gun reform conversation in this country?
EVERIT: Well, I mean I think to some degree it does. We tend to focus on mass shootings, Thomas, but the fact is that more than 80 Americans, their lives are lost to gun violence every day in this country. You know, so many families and communities across this country are being destroyed by gun violence. So, you know, I think sadly every day more people are being pulled into this conversation because they're losing loved ones or they're being injured and their lives are being catastrophically affected. In terms of the dynamics of mass shootings, you mentioned semiautomatic firearms being used. The other very common element here obviously is high capacity ammunition magazines, and of course that ties into the Duck dynasty story where they have now decided in addition to traditional hunting firearms, to also try to market some semi—automatic firearms that accept 25-round magazines which is obviously not necessary for plinking around your house.ROBERTS: No. Or for taking down a duck but that’s a different story. Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Ladd thanks for making time for me, I appreciate it.
