CNN's Piers Morgan had a fiery debate with controversial State Senator Stacey Campfield (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday.
At one point, Campfield said, "Now that gun control has failed, Piers, I'm wondering when are you going to move back to England. Because everyone in Tennessee is dying to know" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield is standing firm, refusing to apologize for a joke he made about assault pressure cookers that clearly mocked the push for more gun control in America. He's been criticized for making the joke so soon after the Boston bombings. And State Senator Stacy Campfield joins me now.
Mr. Campfield, what was this all about? Why did you do this?
STACEY CAMPFIELD, TENNESSEE STATE SENATOR: Just pointing out the hypocrisy of the left, how they push for gun control ten seconds after Sandy Hook shooting. And yet when something else happens, they refuse to say that hey, it's not an inanimate object; it's actually the person. So when people go on and say, we have to get rid of guns, we got to push for gun control, it's just ridiculous. It's like pushing for pressure cooker control after the explosion.
MORGAN: What other things can you do with a pressure cooker other than kill people?
CAMPFIELD: You can cook food.
MORGAN: Right. What other things can you do with a gun other than shoot things?
CAMPFIELD: Other than shooting. I guess you can use it as a walking stick. You can hunt with it. You can go target practice. You can do all sorts of things.
MORGAN: You use a gun as a walking stick, do you?
CAMPFIELD: You. I guess theoretically you could. You could use it as a hammer if you really wanted to. But what's that have to do with anything? We're talking about an inanimate object that does nothing by itself. It does absolutely nothing by itself, just like a pressure cooker does absolutely nothing by itself. Now that gun control has failed, Piers, I'm wondering when are you going to move back to England. Because everyone in Tennessee is dying to know.
CAMPFIELD: I'm going to hang around and just see if people can't grow enough courage in this country to face the reality of your gun violence problem.
For those that missed it, Campfield on Sunday posted a picture of a pressure cooker at his blog with various captions relating to assault weapons. It was titled "Here Comes Feinstein Again."
He took a lot of heat about it in the media and posted a follow-up saying:
If my post was inappropriate talking about "crock pot control" then where is the outrage from the left when they push for gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting? Im [sic] sorry if I exposed your double standard....
Well, not really.
Let's be clear, Campfield has been a controversial State Senator for years, and I in no way endorse his actions.
However, it's indicative of the current strategy at the so-called most trusted name in news to do outrageous things or bring on controversial guests in order to drive ratings.
As NewsBusters previously reported, CNN on Sunday featured chef Anthony Bourdain saying numerous expletives during primetime. Some speculated that this was all a ratings ploy.
So too it seems is bringing on controversial elected officials virtually no one has heard of - typically Republican of course! - for Morgan to spar with and ridicule rather than have a reasoned discussion about important issues of the day.
If that's what CNN thinks people want to see, only time will tell if they're right.
On the other hand, despite Campfield's oddities, it was indeed a pleasure seeing someone ask Morgan to his face when he's going to move back to England.
