If this were a different time and place for our country, I might be able to get behind what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) just suggested, maybe.
But when your party is suddenly pushing back against the Second Amendment because a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a protester, suggesting arming protesters in another country is not exactly the smartest stance to take.
Yet, that is what Cruz just did regarding the protests in Iran.
Donald Trump and numerous Republicans have pushed back on the idea that Alex Pretti should have been carrying his weapon at a protest.
This has not sat well with the NRA, which usually backs all things Trump.
After Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel said law-abiding Americans “cannot” bring a weapon to a protest, the NRA fired back, "The NRA unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be.”
And the NRA is right. I have no problem at all with anyone carrying their legal weapon at a protest. The problem is when that person gets aggressive with law enforcement.
This week, Trump pushed the same narrative regarding Pretti being armed.
Trump stated, “You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns.”
Pretti is a United States citizen, and he had a carry permit, so he had the right to take the gun to the protest with him, but you also have to act responsibly.
The DNC social media account has already pounced on Trump’s statement, posting, “GOP president: You can’t have guns.”
Now we go to Sen. Cruz’s post, stating, "We should be arming the protesters in Iran. NOW. For the Iranian people to overthrow the Ayatollah — a tyrant who routinely chants ‘death to America’ — would make America much, much safer.”
What better way to overthrow the regime of the Ayatollah than to have his citizens lead the revolt, but Cruz is not reading the room here.
You cannot, as a party, complain about an armed protester in your country, then promote the idea of arming protesters in another country.
The Democrat Party is going to feast on this, as the GOP continues to be its own worst enemy. I vote we take away the phones of every Republican and block them from using social media. If they cannot engage their brain before hitting send to realize the damage they are doing to the big picture, then we have to treat them like children.
