Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) used the horrific shooting that took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to argue that one way to prevent more school shootings was to pack the Supreme Court.
Markey began by calling for gun control — as have a number of his Democratic colleagues and even President Joe Biden — and then immediately pivoted to argue that the only way to ensure that gun control laws would not face a challenge or even face the possibility of being overturned was to add at least two justices to the Supreme Court.
“Ed Markey uses the Texas shooting to … attack the Supreme Court and push for court packing. If you’re one of the people who wants Washington to ‘do something,’ on gun violence look at people like Ed Markey who want to shift the debate to every other political goal they have,” Matt Whitlock tweeted, along with video of Markey’s comments.
WATCH:
Ed Markey uses the Texas shooting to.. attack the Supreme Court and push for court packing.
If you're one of the people who wants Washington to "do something," on gun violence look at people like Ed Markey who want to shift the debate to every other political goal they have. pic.twitter.com/GumsYlR02y
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 26, 2022
“We have to take very seriously the threat, which an illegitimate, far-Right Supreme Court poses to gun safety in our country,” Markey said, going on to claim that former President Donald Trump had “stolen” two Supreme Court seats and, in doing so, had rendered the Court “illegitimate.”
“We have to expand the Supreme Court to get back the two stolen seats that the Republicans and Donald Trump took from the American people, so that we can ensure that when we put gun safety laws on the books, they are not overridden by the Supreme Court of the United States,” he said.
Markey also joined President Biden in using the shooting to attack the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Republicans who support the Second Amendment.
“What the American people want is for the NRA to stand for ‘Not Relevant Anymore’ in American politics.”
Sen. Ed Markey joins fellow Democratic senators and gun reform activists at press conference following elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. https://t.co/bo5GYe1goQ pic.twitter.com/elAvxYDWAE
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 26, 2022
“What the American people want the NRA to stand for is ‘Not Relevant Anymore in American politics,'” Markey said, claiming that the Republican Party was stuck in the grip of the NRA and forced to “do what the NRA tells them that they should do.”
President Biden, after giving a cursory nod to the victims of Tuesday’s shooting, parlayed the remainder of his address to the nation into an attack aimed at the “gun lobby” and a warning aimed at any political opponents who would stand in the way of “common sense gun laws” moving forward.