Kathleen Rice, a sitting Democratic member of Congress from New York, threatened a civil liberties group that practices its First Amendment rights. She tweeted:
The National Rifle Association is the country’s premier gun rights organization. It also teaches firearm safety and marksmanship. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, but progressive activists and their allies in the media regularly speak against gun rights.
Dana Loesch is a spokesman for the NRA. Progressive activists are angry at her for noting, in her personal Twitter feed, that Philando Castile, a victim of a police shooting last year, was not carrying his firearm legally. He was in possession of a controlled substance at the time of the shooting, as well as other attendant issues. Progressive activists had wanted the NRA to weigh in on the matter on behalf of Castile.
For this, Rice declared her and the organization she represents domestic security threats.
“Falsely labeling someone a terrorist is an act of terrorism. You have no idea how your hyperbole puts real lives in danger,” Loesch’s husband Chris responded.
A progressive activist recently attempted to assassinate Republican members of Congress practicing baseball. Rep. Steve Scalise was seriously injured in the shooting, along with three other victims. The terrorist, who had publicly discussed his hatred of Republicans and their views, had been an active supporter of progressive causes and elected officials.
In a puffy 2014 New York Times profile, Rice portrayed herself as an independent and reasonable politician:
‘I try to look at the way things can be and not be sidetracked. And part of the reason I want to go to Washington is I have that level of political independence that will break through the gridlock and partisan bickering that is the main reason why people have such a low opinion of Congress.
‘I’m not so ideological that I feel I’m the only one who has the right answers,’ she continued. ‘Everyone has good ideas. You have to be able to reach across the aisle and get ideas from everyone to problem solve.’
In February, the congresswoman took to CNN to lambast President Trump for inappropriate tweets:
It’s a disturbing trend that we see from this president, whether it’s on Twitter, and you know what? I think it’s a great way to communicate with people. I’m not saying he shouldn’t tweet if he wants to. But there’s a certain amount of decorum that we expect from our president. He represents not just himself and his administration but every single American. And I’m hoping that he recognizes that eventually and stops with the name calling and the attacking every time someone says — if it’s a poll he doesn’t like, if it’s a comment that he doesn’t like, if it’s a court decision he doesn’t like. That’s part of life. Right? You have to accept the good with the bad, and you have to roll with the punches.
And so my hope is that, as he gets longer in his tenure, he sees that there is a level of decorum that the president should assume; and hopefully, he will.
Rice’s tweet calling the NRA and private citizens threats to domestic security is only the most recent example of dangerous rhetoric from progressives regarding the NRA. Last week, progressives in the media pretended to not understand an NRA ad calling on the media to report accurately.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, claimed that an NRA ad calling on Constitution supporters to fight back against the resistance with “the clenched fist of truth” was in fact the “NRA telling people to shoot us.”
