Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough on Wednesday got into a heated discussion about the intricacies of the Second Amendment and the constitutionality of owning a weapon like an AR-15.
Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” about the “lethality” of an AR-15, Cruz argued that such firearms are only perceived as more deadly because they are “scary-looking.”
“The lethality of an AR-15 is indistinguishable from many deer rifles,” he claimed.
“So deer rifles are just as lethal? If somebody takes a deer rifle into a high school in Parkland, that that deer rifle is going to be just as lethal as an AR-15?” Scarborough asked.
“Going after the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, it doesn’t work,” Cruz fired back.
In response, Scarborough cited Cruz’s argument in the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, where Cruz represented 31 states and opposed a ban on handgun possession.
“Heller was about a semi-automatic handgun which the Supreme Court said the Second Amendment protected and the District of Columbia couldn’t ban,” Cruz said.
“But you know, though, that every American doesn’t have a constitutional Second Amendment right to carry an AR-15. Yes or no?” Scarborough replied.
“I’m not going to debate that,” Cruz replied, and then cited his own history of litigation before the Supreme Court, adding of Scarborough: “I recognize that’s not what you do.”
“Wait. I don’t need you to lecture me on what the Supreme Court does and what it doesn’t do,” Scarborough, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a lawyer before becoming a journalist, fired back.
He accused Cruz of talking down to him, and continued, over Cruz’s interjections, “Even a dumb country lawyer like me understands that an AR-15, today, is not recognized as a Constitutional right of Americans under the Second Amendment.”
Watch the full exchange below:
I would have liked them to challenge each other to a dual.
Cruz is a waste of time. Why do these shows continue to guest these radical nutcases from the right?
For that matter, why do they not guest radical nutcases from the left?
Ted Cruz is the poster-child of man-splaining.
Scarborough should have challenged him to a duel, “You get a deer rifle, and I get an AR-15 with a high capacity magazine.”
Cruz is a detestable, lying piece of crap. I am really pulling for Beto to whip him next November.