Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) made headlines today with his response to CNN reporter Manu Raju. Raju approached multiple Republicans with multiple questions about gun control, all in the context of yesterday’s Nashville, Tennessee, shooting, which took the lives of six. Among the victims were three children, all aged nine, who were students at the Christian school targeted by the killer.
Donalds, who was notably annoyed, “told journalist Manu Raju that opportunists shouldn’t use the tragedy that claimed six lives to push an agenda that would ban guns,” the NY Post reported. CNN’s Raju was not to be deterred, however.
“The Second Amendment here in the United States,” Donalds said. “People are allowed to possess firearms.”
The two went back and forth about specific bans and about playing politics. “Let’s not get into emotion,” Donalds said. “Because emotion feels good, but emotion doesn’t solve problems.”
Raju also aimed this line of questioning at Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), who represents the district in which the killings took place. “Why not talk about the real issue facing this country in regards to this shooting, which would be mental health” Ogles retorted, before reportedly hurriedly storming off.
It is reported that the 28-year-old shooter, Audrey Hale, a.k.a. Aiden, was suffering from at least two mental illnesses.
Raju then falsely informed viewers that Republicans didn’t support the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022 and told viewers that only 14 House Republicans supported the legislation when, in fact, 184 did.
Ogles could not vote for the act because he was not yet serving in Congress. Donalds, for his part, did support it.
