In an interview with anti-gun Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy on her Wednesday show, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell pressed the Democrat from the left and demanded stronger action on gun control. She fretted that soon “this crisis will pass” without gun rights being restricted.
“Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to enforce the National Instant Criminal Background Check System,” Mitchell explained as she introduced the liberal lawmaker. While praising him for having “been a leader on this march [for gun control] since Newtown,” she worried that the broadly-supported legislation didn’t go far enough: “But at this time, is that good enough? Chuck Schumer, the leader of the caucus, said that your bill is not enough.”
Mitchell even urged him to not support his own bill and hold out for tighter regulations: “So should you be supporting that or should you be, you know, holding back and demanding a universal background check at least?”
After Murphy assured her that he planned to push for more Second Amendment restrictions, Mitchell feared that taking any bipartisan action to enforce the existing background check system would be a missed opportunity for Democrats to exploit the “crisis” following the Florida school shooting:
What is your political strategy? Because you could pass this bipartisan bill and, you know, a lot of people could pat themselves on the back, the President and the Republican caucus and others in the Democratic caucus who really don’t oppose – don’t support stronger gun restrictions. And this crisis will pass. So how does this work for you?
The supposed “journalist” was more interested in how the issue could “work for” Democrats than the possibility of a policy solution actually being enacted.
This came one day after Mitchell fantasized about a world in which “guns did not exist.”
Here are Mitchell’s questions to Murphy in the February 28 exchange:
12:07 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to enforce the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. He’s attending a White House meeting with President Trump later today to talk about gun violence and school safety. Senator, thank you very much.
You’ve been a leader on this march since Newtown, and perhaps before – before we all identified with you this subject more than five years ago. But at this time, is that good enough? Chuck Schumer, the leader of the caucus, said that your bill is not enough. So should you be supporting that or should you be, you know, holding back and demanding a universal background check at least?
(...)
MITCHELL: Do you have – what is your political strategy? Because you could pass this bipartisan bill and, you know, a lot of people could pat themselves on the back, the President and the Republican caucus and others in the Democratic caucus who really don’t oppose – don’t support stronger gun restrictions. And this crisis will pass. So how does this work for you?
(...)
MITCHELL: What about the fact that the President seemed to be backing off of what he had earlier discussed, which was raising the age for buying these weapons? At least before he had that lunch – the unreported lunch, unscheduled lunch, was not revealed immediately – with the NRA on Sunday. Do you worry that he is now backing away from some of the things he talked about last week?
(...)
