On his eponymous Saturday morning show, anti-gun MSNBC host Ali Velshi gave a commentary against the gun rights portion of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 agenda. After taking the opportunity to spread the typical misinformation about guns in America, he brought on anti-gun activist Kris Brown of the Brady Campaign to further trash gun rights activists.
Beginning his commentary, the MSNBC host warned against a Donald Trump presidency. A bit later, he fretted over Trump's proposal to allow teachers to be armed and cited a poll by Johns Hopkins claiming that only 23 percent of Americans support "civilians" having guns in schools:
And, lastly, Trump's Agenda 47 calls for arming teachers with guns and, quote, "to support federal funding to hire trained gun owners as armed guards in our nation's schools," end quote. This despite a Johns Hopkins survey showing that less than a quarter -- only 23 percent of Americans -- support allowing civilians to carry guns on school grounds.
But other polling specifically about training school staff to carry guns for security finds substantially more support for more use of guns for school security.
A bit later, after bringing up conservative opposition to abortion, Velshi snidely suggested that Republicans only care about children until after they have been born:
And with classrooms increasingly resembling maximum security prisons, consider this: Project 2025 refers to abortion acts as, quote, "the grotesque culture against the child in the womb," end quote, I'll respect -- I'll repeat that: "the grotesque culture against the child in the womb." It seems, though, once children are out of the womb, the GOP is practically content with having them fend for themselves in the face of unchecked gun violence.
He concluded his commentary by incorrectly claiming that shootings are a "uniquely American" problem: "The extreme proposals outlined in Project 2025 and in Agenda 47 will take a sledgehammer to the already limited gun control measures we have, leaving us scrambling for ever more adequate defenses against the uniquely American public health crisis of gun violence."
But in Mexico, for example, where it is difficult to purchase a gun legally, the homicide rate is three times what it is in the United States.
After a commercial break, Velshi brought aboard Brown and called the NRA a "racket" as he cued up his liberal guest to trash the conservative group:
The proposals in both Project 2025 and Agenda 47 are perfectly aligned with NRA goals, including efforts to overturn state bans on assault-style weapons. Talk to me about the role that the protection racket that is the NRA and the gun rights groups and the lobby are playing in shaping these blueprints.
In her response, Brown accused the NRA of not caring about gun violence and of just being motivated by money:
And the agenda there is very clear. It's to sell as many guns to as many people as possible and remove every public safety measure in place to allow that to happen. It's profit-seeking, and the NRA and these other gun rights extremist groups could care less that gun violence is the number one killer of our kids.
She also took out of context a comment by Trump from January after a school shooting in Iowa occurred just days before the Iowa caucuses. Here's Brown: "And same with Donald Trump. Let's believe him when he says about school shootings, we should just 'get over it.' No one's getting over this -- no parent. All of us feel at risk, and the solutions before us are really simple."
But Trump was talking about the need to focus on the upcoming election, not that nothing should be done about school shootings.
Velshi then jumped in to misleadingly quote J.D. Vance calling school shootings a "fact of life" to make it sound like the GOP vice presidential candidate had recommended not doing anything about school shootings when, in fact, Vance advocated arming teachers because school shootings are a "fact of life."
Velshi: "J.D. Vance said this week that it's 'a fact of life.'"
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's Velshi
September 7, 2024
10:44 a.m. Eastern
ALI VELSHI: And today our deep dive into Project 2025 is going to focus on the blueprint's proposals on gun policy. Now, if the gun rights lobby has its way, Wednesday's tragic shooting in Georgia will be reduced to yet another statistic dressed up in empty thoughts and prayers. And if Donald Trump returns to office, the GOP's unholy alliance with the corporate gun lobby could be cemented into federal law.
(...)
And, lastly, Trump's Agenda 47 calls for arming teachers with guns and, quote, "to support federal funding to hire trained gun owners as armed guards in our nation's schools," end quote. This despite a Johns Hopkins survey showing that less than a quarter -- only 23 percent of Americans -- support allowing civilians to carry guns on school grounds.
The proposal respects the -- reflects the GOP's long-standing policy of shifting responsibility for public safety from the gun industry to school children and school administrators. In the absence of political will, school children are left scrambling for bullet-proof backpacks and classroom panic buttons along other band-aid solutions.
And with classrooms increasingly resembling maximum security prisons, consider this: Project 2025 refers to abortion acts as, quote, "the grotesque culture against the child in the womb," end quote, I'll respect -- I'll repeat that: "the grotesque culture against the child in the womb." It seems, though, once children are out of the womb, the GOP is practically content with having them fend for themselves in the face of unchecked gun violence.
The extreme proposals outlined in Project 2025 and in Agenda 47 will take a sledgehammer to the already limited gun control measures we have, leaving us scrambling for ever more adequate defenses against the uniquely American public health crisis of gun violence.
(...)
10:55 a.m.
VELSHI: The proposals in both Project 2025 and Agenda 47 are perfectly aligned with NRA goals, including efforts to overturn state bans on assault-style weapons. Talk to me about the role that the protection racket that is the NRA and the gun rights groups and the lobby are playing in shaping these blueprints.
KRIS BROWN, BRADY CAMPAIGN: Thanks for having me. And, indeed, you're exactly right. Look, it's not just in these documents -- both Project 2025 and Agenda 47. As you noted in the segment before, it is a top priority of the National Rifle Association and extremist gun rights groups to pass what they label "concealed carry reciprocity." Basically what that would do is undo all of the permitting systems that exist in states across this country. That's what it would do.
And the agenda there is very clear. It's to sell as many guns to as many people as possible and remove every public safety measure in place to allow that to happen. It's profit-seeking, and the NRA and these other gun rights extremist groups could care less that gun violence is the number one killer of our kids. And same with Donald Trump. Let's believe him when he says about school shootings, we should just "get over it." No one's getting over this -- no parent. All of us feel at risk, and the solutions before us are really simple.
VELSHI: J.D. Vance said this week that it's "a fact of life."
