Presidential hopeful Rep. Eric Swalwell told “The View” on Tuesday there are Republican members of Congress who have privately told him they “want to do the right thing” on gun control but are afraid they will be voted out of office.
The California Democrat said Congress needs to stand up to groups like the National Rifle Association and pass more gun control laws.
“I’ve come to figure out, going across the country helping 28 members of Congress in their 40s and under win this last election in Texas, in Iowa, in Oklahoma, in Kansas, that you can run on background checks and you’re not going to be punished … It was always used as a tactic to keep us from doing anything on it, but also we’ve got to get rid of the dirty money,” Swalwell said.
“So many Republicans tell me, ‘I know I want to do the right thing on this issue. I’m just afraid I’ll get primaried.’ They’re more worried about their job than doing the right thing,” he said.
Swalwell said he was proud to be the only presidential candidate to not only propose banning AR-15 rifles, but also to buy them back from gun owners.
“I’m the only candidate calling for that. That will go a long way. Kids are sitting paralyzed with fear in their classrooms today and you can’t measure that. We can measure the deaths and the loss and we mourn the dead, but the fear that a kid has in their classroom today, you can’t measure that,” he said.
According to a new poll from CNN, Swalwell is polling at 0%, among the lowest in the crowded primary field.
New @CNN poll:
Biden 32%
Sanders 18%
Harris 8%
Warren 7%
Buttigieg 5%
O’Rourke 5%
Booker 3%
Castro 2%
Klobuchar 2%
Bennet 1%
Gabbard 1%
Gillibrand 1%
Inslee 1%
Ryan 1%
Yang 1%
de Blasio <1%
Delaney <1%
Hickenlooper <1%
Williamson <1%
Bullock 0%
Messam 0%
Moulton 0%
Swalwell 0%— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 4, 2019
