Now that it’s clear that Nikolas Cruz, the shooter who carried out yesterday’s deadly massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, was known to be extremely mentally disturbed, it’s only natural that the media repurpose their typical “guns are bad” argument by dusting off one of their favorite bogus talking points from the past year:
Media are going to put out stories about Trump overturning an Obama-era rule regarding mentally ill and guns with a wink wink. What they aren't going to do is link it to Parkland. They are literally throwing out a shiny object, and it's why they are tuned out.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2018
Soledad O’Brien, you’re up:
In Feb 2017 President Trump repealed a measure aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people.
The GOP-majority Senate passed the bill by a 57-43 margin earlier this month, following a House vote to overturn the rule. (Source: NPR 2/2017) https://t.co/DUnParFvU9— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) February 15, 2018
Cecilia Vega, you’re on deck:
.@CeciliaVega: "One of the only major actions that Pres. Trump has taken on gun control is to block an Obama-era rule that made it harder for the mentally ill to have access to guns." https://t.co/NDrJeM9R3E pic.twitter.com/r3WLKP4GS8
— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2018
Jennifer Rubin, you’re in the hole:
almost a year ago Trump signed a bill rolling back Obama measure making it harder for mentally ill to get guns
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 15, 2018
Or how about CNN analyst Asha Rangappa?
It would also have helped if you had not revoked additional gun background checks for people who have mental illnesses last February. https://t.co/ETlsGeibp2
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 15, 2018
Or MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin:
Reminder: Trump quietly signed a bill into law last February rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun. https://t.co/qVLvABiLiE https://t.co/acrKw1kvst
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 15, 2018
Don’t worry, Meet the Press … we haven’t forgotten about you:
FLASHBACK: Pres. Trump Signs Bill Revoking Obama-Era Gun Checks for People With Mental Illnesseshttps://t.co/XCXyBYynEO pic.twitter.com/a7fyEpopkO
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 15, 2018
That sounds really bad, until you realize that that’s a gross — and incredibly misleading — oversimplification.
This is a total chimera. The law in question stopped people who use a representative payee for disability payments from buying a gun https://t.co/GIyn7i676C
— Yaniv Kaufmann (@notwokieleaks) February 15, 2018
Obama stripped senior citizens of their civil rights. Trump restored their rights. LeftTwitter is using that to blame Trump for a shooting. https://t.co/5QDBHeory9
— Will (@Oil_Guns_Merica) February 15, 2018
This bill was backed by ACLU & disability advocates who felt the reg unfairly targeted those w/mental disabilities who use 3rd-party payees. I don't know enough to have a view but this is more complicated than some tweets suggest. https://t.co/P8gD0m4MbChttps://t.co/2NqSLw3IMs https://t.co/jKxwwxSxDS
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) February 15, 2018
A couple of refreshers:
- Cher, Rachel Maddow triggered by vote they claim will arm the severely mentally ill; Dana Loesch schools
- Surprise! Rachel Maddow’s STILL spreading B.S. about GOP arming ‘seriously mentally ill people’
And this excellent piece from National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke:
This is simply untrue. https://t.co/CQs3oDcZkL
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 15, 2018
But never let the facts get in the way of a good narrative. Especially a gun control narrative.
So the memo went out. https://t.co/Pnfj41LHur
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2018
The memo is out. They are all lying to you https://t.co/lW3T1YNUL8
— Mujahed Kobbe (@Moj_kobe) February 15, 2018
Another blue check mark pushes this lie. It’s spreading like wildfire https://t.co/5QDBHeory9
— Will (@Oil_Guns_Merica) February 15, 2018
This lie will be repeated again and again and nobody cares
— Call me Big J (@newyorkjew) February 15, 2018
Liar.
— beccasu (@CocoaMonoi) February 15, 2018
This is a lie. https://t.co/AFMQlpXpop
— EducatédHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) February 15, 2018
This is a lie and you know it.
You are pathetic
— Mujahed Kobbe (@Moj_kobe) February 15, 2018
As part of their Go Green movement, media and Democrats (birm) now recycling discredited talking points. https://t.co/dIErUXhaJI
— Botty McBotface (@JammieWF) February 15, 2018
Hard to tell if media simply doesn't care about facts. Or, if they're just hyper partisan. Or if they're just lazy and push false liberal talking points. Prolly all of the above.
— Chris (@CML_Texas) February 15, 2018
And add @ABC to the list of media outlets getting the facts wrong on this. Remember this when you wonder why media credibility is in the toilet.
— Taro Tsujimoto (@RCannon74) February 15, 2018
This so misleading as to be considered a lie. If you want to know why nightly news is unwatchable, it is because individuals like @CeciliaVega are hacks. https://t.co/85em0rHZjm
— Lee Doren (@LDoren) February 15, 2018
Never mind that wannabe killers hell-bent on murdering as many people as possible don’t care about the law.
A simple question: was the Parkland shooter a declared legally mentally ill, and a recipient of social security benefits? Now ask yourselves why the brave firefighters aren't including that in this neat new talking point
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 15, 2018
And this had exactly WHAT to do with yesterday? Specifically? Can you do that as a reporter or are just what we suspect and a narrative pusher?
— Just Brad (@bradcundiff) February 15, 2018
It’s all about the narrative. Every. Single. Time.
You don’t get to wag your finger and lecture us all about our duty to defend journalists while journalists are telling outright lies
— Will (@Oil_Guns_Merica) February 15, 2018
