Former Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., argued Tuesday that left-wing groups are helping high school students mobilize against the Trump administration to push for tougher gun controls in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Florida.
“Let’s ask ourselves: Do we really think 17-year-olds, on their own, are going to plan a nationwide rally?” Kingston said on CNN.
Jack Kingston questions Florida school shooting survivors speaking against guns: “Their sorrow can very easily be hijacked by left-wing groups … Do we really think 17-year-olds on their own are going to plan a nation-wide rally?” https://t.co/YyvffMsS1q https://t.co/BduJ0jjAU9
— New Day (@NewDay) February 20, 2018
His comments drew a rebuke from CNN host Alisyn Camerota, who told him, “I was down there and talked to these kids” and said they were motivated enough on their own to buy bus tickets and plan a protest in Washington.
Kingston clarified that he did not doubt the sincerity of the students, but he also said he knew students at this age did not have the logistical ability to plan something of this magnitude without it being a front for a much larger group with a “pre-existing anti-gun agenda.”
Kingston tweeted Sunday night his disbelief that students could plan a nationwide rally on their own.
O really? “Students” are planning a nationwide rally? Not left wing gun control activists using 17yr kids in the wake of a horrible tragedy? #Soros #Resistance #Antifa #DNC https://t.co/AmqH1ajMTo
— Jack Kingston (@JackKingston) February 19, 2018
