Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told “Meet the Press’s” Chuck Todd that his heart goes out to the victims in Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, Florida – now being reported as the most deadly mass shooting in our country’s history, with 50 people now reported dead. The gunman reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS during the attack and the terror organization is celebrating the deaths.
It was an “unthinkable” tragedy, Sanders said. Yet, immediately after, Sanders suggested the shooting was more proof that we should have enacted gun control in America long ago.
“I’ve got to tell you, 25 years ago I believed in this country we should not be selling automatic weapons that were designed to kill people,” he said. “On top of that, we have to make sure guns don’t fall into the hands of people who should not have them.”
Todd, perhaps noticing how quickly Sanders had pivoted to politics, asked the Vermont senator if it’s possible to ever separate mass homicides from politics.
“Do you think we can ever have a conversation where we have the terrorism conversation and the gun conversation, where it can have this without without trying to politicize one version of events over the other?” Todd asked.
Sanders, oblivious to Todd’s insinuation, said it’s possible because the majority of gun owners and non-gun owners understand we need to enact gun reform.
Unfortunately, more liberal politicians and media pundits will undoubtedly use Sunday’s tragedy to forward an anti-gun agenda, when they should be focusing on the real target – radical Islamic terrorism.