It came as no surprise on Thursday evening when two of CNN’s prime-time hosts reacted to the mass shooting earlier that day at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, by once again calling for stringent gun control and, despite their claims otherwise, mocking religion and the importance of prayer.
The one-sided discussion began when Cuomo Prime Time host Chris Cuomo tossed to CNN Tonight Don Lemon, host of the next show, CNN Tonight, and by the end of the segment, Cuomo mocked those who'd raise questions about their viewpoints, stating that they would paint the two as “Bonnie and Clyde of Fake News.”
One of the most outrageous claims made by Cuomo came when he asserted that people who only offer thoughts and prayers are not experiencing true empathy.
“You don't do a damn thing about them,” he asserted. “Don't say that you care about the people who you see on TV when you won’t do anything to help those same people.”
“I'm so glad you said that,” Lemon stated, “because I'm sure people will take this out of context and they'll take clips of what we said: ‘Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo want to get rid of the Second Amendment.’ Nobody said that.”
Cuomo then claimed that he and Lemon can be considered the “Bonnie and Clyde of fake news.”
Earlier in the discourse, Lemon asked: “Why do we do thoughts and prayers” when “we should be doing what it takes to stop” gun-related shootings?
Cuomo responded by asserting: “We should be doing anything to stop” this series of gun-related crimes.
Lemon then moaned: “We can’t even have a conversation” on the issue. He then dismissed the “dumbest argument” used by gun rights activists who accuse them of being “anti-religion” and “anti-God.”
“We're saying before you get to those thoughts and prayers,” Lemon asserted, “maybe you should be doing something to prevent it instead.”
In an attempt to get viewers to identify with him, Cuomo admitted: “I’m a gun owner.”
Good for you, Chris. But this segment that could have been scripted by Everytown didn't mention how California has perhaps the country's strictest gun laws and that mental health officials had given the gunman an approving bill of mental health, thus allowing him to purchase guns. Nonetheless, he continued:
Most responsible gun owners want better access rules for weapons. It's not about us. You've got mental health. You've got the culture of violence in this society.
The idea of you wanting to take your own life is regrettable. The idea that the way to do it is to take others along with it, that's unique.
He then acknowledged that whenever a shooting occurs, gun control is “never part of the dialogue. It's all emotion. It's all in the moment. Nothing happens.”
Lemon focused his attention on gun rights advocates, who should “stop pretending that the Second Amendment is the amendment above all that's sacrosanct.” But it's safe to say that, if you asked either them or their CNN colleagues about the First Amendment, they would have some very devout views on that part of the Constitution. Fortunately, America isn't a place where you can pick and choose which parts of the Constitution to follow.
With that in mind, Cuomo stated, “at the end of the day, we just all know there's only one question: “Can you do better than this?”
Lemon then noted:
We are the biggest, best democracy in the world. … We have figured things out and we do things that no other country can do. [W]hy are we disproportionately affected by gun violence more than any other nation in the world? What is it?
He added that individuals “should be challenging people like the NRA to do better when it comes to what kind of gun laws we should have.” Ah, yes, the big, bad NRA again. Sigh.
Cuomo also stated: “Almost without exception, gun owners are ridiculously responsible people. They know what they’re dealing with. They know how dangerous it is. They know the respect. It's a culture of respect.”
Responding to claims that both CNN anchors want to abolish the Second Amendment, Lemon stated: “Nobody said we should take the guns away whatever. No, but if you're going to carry a gun, if you're going to be allowed the privilege or the right in this society to have a gun, then you should have sense with it.”
