WASHINGTON — Top Trump administration officials have challenged long-held GOP orthodoxy on the Second Amendment in recent weeks — bringing condemnation from gun rights groups but notably not Republicans in Congress.
Democrats say this is yet another example of a dangerously divisive hypocrisy that holds the left and right to different standards.
“What we're seeing is complete hypocrisy. It's both stunning and crazy,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told Raw Story at the Capitol this week.
“Those attacks have been so outrageous. The fact that they're calling people terrorists — ‘domestic terrorists’ — without collecting any information.”
The Trump administration applied that label to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, both U.S. citizens shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.
Pretti was legally carrying a concealed firearm, which was removed by an agent before he was shot multiple times.
Republicans including President Donald Trump have said Pretti should not have carried a gun to a protest — a dizzying abandonment of normal GOP rhetoric on Second Amendment rights.
Regardless, among Republicans who control both chambers of Congress and are quick to investigate liberals, many are defending President Trump and his advisors — or choosing to dodge the question.
“Do you think your party needs to hold hearings on the Second Amendment?” Raw Story asked Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) on Capitol Hill this week. “Are you worried that it’s being attacked by members of the administration?”
“No, I don't know,” McClintock said. “I utterly reject the premise of your question.”
He was far from alone in adopting a GOP position that Democratic critics say showcases the president’s vision of two Americas.
‘Would-be assassin’
After years of challenging most any gun restriction, top Trump officials turned heads by condemning Alex Pretti.
The dead man was accused of “domestic terrorism” by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, labeled a "would-be assassin" by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and rebuked by FBI Director Kash Patel.
“You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want,” Patel said.
After backlash from gun groups, all those officials tried to walk their comments back. But this week, another top Trump appointee challenged longheld GOP orthodoxy.
“Bring a gun into this District, plan on going to jail,” Fox News host turned U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Perino said … before she too had to try to clarify comments so at odds with GOP rhetoric.
You wouldn’t know that from talking to Republicans on the Hill.
“I haven’t seen that,” Rep. Joe WIlson (R-SC) — who brags about having “lead on concealed carry in South Carolina” — told Raw Story. “I’m not familiar with it.”
“So are you going to spearhead hearings to protect the Second Amendment from this administration?” Raw Story asked Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a prominent Trump supporter and candidate for governor in his home state.
“What?” Donalds said. “I always protect the Second Amendment. I always will.”
Other Republicans were happy to keep blaming Pretti for his own death.
“You have rights, but you don't have the right to infringe on other people's rights,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a former U.S. Navy Seal, told Raw Story.
“Law enforcement has a right to enforce the law. If you interfere in that — like, gun or no gun — like, there's a chance you're going to get hurt.
“If you get pulled over, what do you do as a proper gun owner? You tell the police officer, ‘I am carrying.’ You tell them that. I don't know if that's a law, but it's, like, well-known in the community that that's just what you do.”
Other Republicans blamed the media.
“A lot of things can be taken out of context from the standpoint of what is happening,” Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) told Raw Story.
“There's a lot of emotion surrounding what is happening in Minnesota, so I think people need to be careful of making hard and fast judgments about what somebody is doing or saying without understanding the context in which it was asked.”
While some Republicans have criticized comments from administration figures, they don’t see a need to publicly decry Team Trump.
“I thought that was a rush to judgment,” Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), who has a concealed carry permit, told Raw Story. “I was disappointed.”
Still, Thompson doesn’t think House Republicans need to ask any officials to clarify.
“I'm guessing they got great feedback and got schooled on it,” Thompson said.
‘New levels of hypocrisy’
Democrats don’t know how to react to such a startling GOP about-face.
“I didn't think I could be stunned by new levels of hypocrisy, but I think this is maybe the most hypocritical of all the hypocrisy,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a military veteran, told Raw Story.
“Pretty pathetic from them, but not surprising these days.
“At this point, all principles have been sacrificed in fealty to Trump. All principles, including our Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.”
The episode is revealing, others said.
“You're not fighting for principles but you're playing for power,” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) told Raw Story. “For the folks in this administration, it's about, ‘What's in it for me?’ Everything's malleable. Everything's negotiable.”
In Trump’s America, Democrats say, critics are held to a different standard.
“The administration supports the Second Amendment, apparently except for when demonstrators are carrying,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told Raw Story.
“Do you worry that we have two Americas now?” Raw Story asked Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA).
“Oh, I do worry about that,” Dean said. “But I do think it's more a sign of how they're losing. How they're failing.
“They can't keep a grip on their own arguments without twisting themselves into knots over the fact that Alex Pretti lawfully was carrying a gun, [it] was taken from him and then he was executed in the street.
“They are tying themselves in knots to try to forgive ICE and to say it doesn't impact their precious Second Amendment rights.”
‘No credibility’
To Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, GOP hypocrisy is one thing, the administration’s rush to defend ICE agents no matter the allegations quite another.
“For folks that claim to be pro-law enforcement, rule number one in law enforcement, having been a mayor of a big city [Long Beach] with a lot of cops, is that you allow an independent investigation,” Garcia said.
“You don't prejudge it if you are the one doing the investigation.
“It's just a joke. I mean, there's no credibility. The DOJ is corrupt. The DHS is corrupt. Both [Attorney General Pam] Bondi and Noem should resign. They view things in two lenses … they view people as enemies, and people that support the president.”
If Democrats win the House in November, Garcia’s slated to replace Rep. James Comer (R-KY) as chair of the Oversight Committee. He’s promising investigations.
“We have a long list. Of course, we're going to look at Noem and, of course, we're going to look at Bondi, but the list goes on and on,” Garcia said. “There's so much to investigate.
“This is the most corrupt government to ever exist in the history of the United States. Where are all the DHS contracts going? Or the private prison contracts? How much money is the Trump family, you know, gaining?
“I think all of it has to be looked at.”
