A Republican lawmaker offered a threatening gun analogy to urge right-wing Christians to "eject" Republican lawmakers who were insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, introduced the president Friday at the Values Voter Summit with an anecdote about shooting followed by a complaint about disloyal GOP lawmakers.
"If we don't get behind this agenda, and an 'America first' agenda, if we do not get behind it, it is time that you send us home," Meadows said.
The North Carolina Republican, whose colleague Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was wounded this summer in an apparently politically motivated shooting, abruptly shifted the topic to guns.
"I love to shoot, I love to actually go out with my son and shoot, and so when you go out to shoot you can shoot a lot of shells," he said. "All the shells look exactly the same. In fact, you can put them in and as you shoot, occasionally you come across one where you pull the trigger and it's a dud."
"Now, you have two options," he continued. "You can leave that in the chamber -- dud -- and pull the trigger again and again and see if it fires, or you can eject it and put in another shell."
The crowd cheered, and Meadows turned the topics back to politics.
"I would suggest we have some members that are duds, that have been left in the chamber too long, and it is time that we eject them," Meadows said, as the applause grew louder. "What do you think? It is time, it is time. Quit trying to make them perfect -- eject them, start over with a fresh shell."
