Watch Joe Scarborough Flip Out on Tim Huelskamp Over a Gun Control Debate
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough yelled at Rep. Tim Huelskamp Friday morning after the Kansas Republican said people who called for gun control after the Newtown school shooting had "politicized" the tragedy. Co-host Mika Brzeznski later tweeted the clip with the line, "The problem with the GOP - in one interview." Huelskamp suggested new laws wouldn't have changed a thing:
"What has bothered me the most as a representative is how this has been politicized so quickly that somehow if we had changed one single law — which as I understand it, the state of Connecticut had laws against these kind of things — and somehow that would have changed things."
Scarborough took that personally, because he's had a notable turnaround on gun control since the shootings. "Do you dare come on my show and say I am using the slaughter of 20 little six- and seven-year-old children, I’m using that for political purposes, Tim?" Huelskamp said no, he was only referring to President Obama. As Scarborough kept talking, the angrier he got: "So we can’t at least talk about guns without you questioning my integrity and saying that I’m using the death of 20 children to try to make life for my children a little bit safer? We can’t even talk about it without you coming on this show and insulting me personally?" Huelskamp had suggested maybe violent video games were to blame — didn't that count as politicizing, too? Didn't the country change after 9/11? Was that politicizing? Scarborough asked.
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Watch the full exchange here:
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Huelskamp isn't alone in his reluctance to blame guns. Texas state Rep.-elect Kyle Kacal said ping pong is more dangerous than guns. "'I've heard of people being killed playing ping pong - ping pongs are more dangerous than guns. Flat-screen TVs are injuring more kids today than anything," he said.
