There were a lot of memorable moments from yesterday's House Judiciary committee hearing on assault weapons:
Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg was removed for interrupting "Big Lie" supporter Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ); the hearing opened with some disturbing slides from recent shootings; and we heard moving testimony from the Mayor of Highland Park.
One moment you may have missed, buried nearly five hours into the hearing, was an explanation from our opponent, Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO), on why our nation is presently facing an epidemic of mass shootings. Here’s what Buck had to say:
Umm...
Let us be the first to say it: Teachers Unions have nothing to do with America's ongoing plague of mass shootings.
It is beyond disgraceful to suggest that teachers, many whom are often the first victims in these shootings, are responsible for causing mass shootings. On the contrary, an answer to why these shooting are happening can actually be found within Buck’s own rhetoric and embrace of the paramilitary extreme-right.
In each of this summer’s mass shootings, including Highland Park, the Greenwood Park Mall, Uvalde, Buffalo, and more, the shooters have been linked to right-wing ideology and anti-immigrant creed, such as the "Great Replacement" theory.
Congressman Buck is directly complicit in mobilizing these shooters.
After the 2020 Kenosha vigilante shooting, Buck appeared at a Guns and BBQ Fundraiser with then congressional candidate Lauren Boebert in a t-shirt reading “Kill Em All - Let God Sort Em Out.” — a clear signal to his supporters in the extreme Right to keep up the anti-protester violence. On top of this, Buck has been a champion of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that so many of these mass shooters have cited as the motivation for their attacks.
When Ike confronted Buck about all of this during a debate in 2020, he asked him point-blank if he would condemn right-wing extremism. Buck pretended not to hear the question.
Our coalition grows stronger by the day and with your help, we will give Buck the boot.
-McCorkle for Colorado
Ike McCorkle is the combat wounded Marine Force Recon Vet and Democratic nominee in Colorado's 4th Congressional District, running against the racist, corrupt, misogynistic Ken Buck.
