You’d think a newsman would keep abreast of the news, but maybe that’s expecting too much.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo proclaimed Wednesday morning that no one is calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment. His declaration comes just one day after the New York Times published an op-ed by former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens titled, “Repeal the Second Amendment.”
“Who is calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment? Who is calling for it?” Cuomo asked of his guest, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
Santorum pointed to Justice Steven’s op-ed in the Times.
“He did not [call for a repeal],” Cuomo insisted, again incorrectly. It’s funny, because at least someone at CNN noticed that Justice Stevens did exactly that, and published a write-up and even aired a segment on Tuesday titled, “Retired Justice Stevens argues for repeal of Second Amendment.”
Cuomo then did what lawyers call “arguing in the alternative,” which most people know as “trying to have it both ways.” Having claimed that Justice Stevens never said what he said, he argued that even if Stevens did say that, it’s meaningless because the title “former Supreme Court Justice” is meaningless.
Justice Stevens is “not a politician. He’s not in office. He is not the head of any significant group,” Cuomo added Wednesday in an aside.
Later in the day, instead of apologizing for his on-air mistake, Cuomo doubled-down, tweeting that Stevens had not in fact called for repeal of the Second Amendment.
“[R]ead the full context of what Stevens said – even he was discussing what fastest route to legal changes to current laws would be. Of course if there were no 2A, regulating access would be easier,” the CNN anchor tweeted Wednesday after his interview with Santorum. “[I]f your case for fears of 2a repeal rest on on [sic] an op ed from a retired justice, you have no case. read the context and realize it is another bogeyman by you guys who want fear to inhibit change. we need to stop the shootings, right?”
Whatever Cuomo means by this, there’s absolutely no question that Stevens did indeed call for the repeal of the Second Amendment. He argued specifically that it wasn’t enough merely for activists to push for measures such as a ban on civilian ownership of semiautomatic guns, or to increase the minimum age to buy firearms. “[T]he demonstrators,” he wrote, “should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.”
Oblivious to this passage, perhaps because he only skimmed Stevens’ op-ed after his interview with Santorum, Cuomo added, “he is a retired justice who was talking about ways to get quick legal change on access to weapons. he is not an elected official or part of any effort to repeal 2A. it is a bogeyman to keep people scared and as such resistant to ways to stop the shootings.”
So, yes, Cuomo obviously didn’t read the op-ed he was talking about on air and then tweeting about online. But just wait until he figures out that Justice Stevens isn’t even the first public figure to call for repeal of the Second Amendment.
Full disclosure: This author is a paid contributor with CNN/HLN.
