MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan said it’s time to call the Republican Party what it really is as lawmakers on the right reject any attempt at gun control amid a wave of mass shootings.
“In America in 2023 there have been more mass shootings than there have been days,” he said on his show on Sunday evening, citing statistics from the Gun Violence Archive. “This is how we live now.”
Hasan systemically dismantled the usual right-wing talking points after mass shootings, including the notion that nothing can be done.
“They’re lying to you,” he said. “This isn’t about mental health, which every other country has problems with. It isn’t drugs, which every other country struggles with. It isn’t computer games, which every other country has. It’s the guns. It’s obviously the guns.”
He said it’s high time to place the blame where it belongs: On Republicans.
“Let’s stop saying ‘Congress must act’ and start saying ‘the Republican Party must act’,” he said. “Let’s stop treating the GOP as the party of law and order and treat them, more accurately, as the party of gun violence, of school shootings, of mall massacres.”
He called for a ban an assault weapons:
“Let’s stop treating the GOP as the party of law and order and treat them, more accurately, as the party of gun violence, of school shootings, of mall massacres. For God’s sake, ban the damn AR-15.” @MehdiRHasan doesn't hold back in tonight's monologue on the TX mall shooting pic.twitter.com/JaqgYT3doJ
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) May 8, 2023
Hasan also ripped into another common GOP talking point after each mass shooting: the notion that the answer is in “thoughts and prayers” or that God has to provide the solution:
.@mehdirhasan on Republicans' "thoughts and prayers" after the TX mall shooting: "Don't mock or trivialize faith. Take action in the name of faith to protect innocents from gun violence." pic.twitter.com/lbOCKqROP5
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) May 8, 2023