Bloomberg Confronted on Gun Hypocrisy at Town Hall: 'Does Your Life Matter More Than Mine?'
It was the kind of moment that showed why Mike Bloomberg should avoid the public.
The former New York City mayor and petulant contender for the presidency took to a Fox News town hall on Monday to introduce himself to the people he’s trying to rule.
Considering it took place in Virginia, a state that values its Second Amendment rights more than many, it was predictable there would be a least one hard-hitting question on Bloomberg’s hardline gun-control policies.
What wasn’t predictable was how badly Bloomberg would blow it.
The moment came when an audience member asked the billionaire why Bloomberg considered it permissible to employ his own well-armed security detail for protection, but would deny his fellow Americans the same right to self-defense.
Check it out here:
“How do you justify pushing for more gun control when you have an armed security detail that’s likely equipped with the same firearms and magazines that you seek to ban the common citizen from owning?” the man, identified as Clarke Chitty, asked at the town hall in Manassas, Virginia.
“Does your life matter more than mine or my family’s or these peoples’?”
Boil down Bloomberg’s answer and it’s reasonable to summarize it as follows: Of course my life matters more than yours — I’m rich, I’m powerful and I’m running for president.”
What he actually said was:
“Look, I probably get 40 or 50 threats every week, OK, and some of them are real. That just happens when you are the mayor of New York City or you are very wealthy, and if you are campaigning for president of the United States you get lots of threats.”
In other words: Whatever problems you might have don’t amount to requiring armed protection, cretin. Mine do.
The answer didn’t go over well, either with Bloomberg’s audience Monday night, or with commenters on social media:
Shorter Bloomberg: If you’re rich and an elite, you get to defend yourself with guns. Complete garbage. https://t.co/2sUiYGZeYE
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 3, 2020
This is the classism of Bloomberg and his gun control groups’ gun control: They all have armed security. They don’t want YOU lawfully bearing arms unless you’re rich enough to hire security like they do. https://t.co/IyMeqDvmwn
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 3, 2020
Audience member: “You travel with armed security but don’t want me to have a gun. Do you think your life matters more than mine?”
Bloomberg: “Yes. There are a lot of threats on my life.”
Try living in a different neighborhood if you want to see threats on your life, Mike.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 3, 2020
And if the arrogance wasn’t bad enough, Bloomberg compounded the problem by misrepresenting his own gun control preferences as simply wanted to keep criminals, the mentally disturbed and what Bloomberg calls “minors” from having firearms.
As a look at Bloomberg’s own website shows, he wants, among other things, to ban “assault weapons” — basically any weapon that looks scary to liberals; require any gun purchaser to obtain a permit first (making the exercise of the Second Amendment right essentially dependent on the government’s approval); and to ban weapons purchases by those under 21. (Those under 21 aren’t “minors,” legally, and Bloomberg knows it.)
Bloomberg spent his 12 years as New York’s mayor proving he thinks an omniscient, omnipotent government is the answer to all societal problems — what other mindset could come up with the idea of using taxation to limit the amount of soda individuals drink?
His answer Monday night proved not only that he has no respect for the Second Amendment, he doesn’t even view his fellow Americans as requiring — or apparently deserving of — the same kind of protection he and his fellow wealthy gun-grabbers enjoy as a matter of routine.
Since declaring for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Bloomberg has spent more than $500 million in advertising and other campaign expenses, according to NPR.
Monday night’s town hall showed why. Besides facing tough questions, Bloomberg also faces the unpredictable — like the protesters at the end of the video in this post, who demonstrated, according to The World News, against the “stop and frisk” policies Bloomberg championed as New York’s mayor as well as the nondisclosure agreements his company had with numerous women.
Bloomberg can spout off all he wants in slickly produced paid advertising without fear of reality — or his fellow citizens — intruding.
But he should stay out of the public as much as possible — his real personality just might show through.
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