Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Sunday's American Voices show, MSNBC weekend anchor Alicia Menendez devoted a segment to gloating over the NRA's decision to file for bankruptcy in response to being targeted by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James.
Menendez -- who is also the daughter of New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez -- mocked the right-leaning pro-gun group, suggesting that it is morally "bankrupt," blamed it for mass shootings in America, and ended up tying in a reference to the Capitol Hill riots.
As she began her commentary, the MSNBC anchor noted that the New York attorney general had been investigating the NRA for alleged "corruption," although she failed to use the word "alleged," and she also failed to informed viewers that Attorney General James is a Democrat who would have a political axe to grind against the right-leaning group.
She soon took a jab at the pro-gun group as she quoted the New York attorney general. Here's Menendez: "New York's A.G. says the NRA's claimed financial status has, quote, 'finally met its moral status, bankrupt.'"
She then incorrectly claimed that mass shootings are an "epidemic unique to America" as she blamed such violence on the NRA:
But does the organization still have influence? For decades it has lobbied lawmakers to vote against any sort of gun proposal. The NRA's grip on Washington so tight, the CDC is essentially barred from even studying what causes gun violence. Which we know is an epidemic unique to America. And until now, nothing, nothing, has changed that calculus. The murders of 20 children and six school staffers in Connecticut wasn't enough. Murders of 17 high schoolers and faculty members in Florida wasn't enough. In fact, the NRA has been so successful at preventing action on guns it has helped birth a culture where mass shootings are the norm.
The MSNBC anchor then tied in the recent Capitol Hill attack by right-wing rioters:
The Capitol Hill riot reminded us of that. The mob stormed the Capitol. Young congressional staffers, including aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, locked and barricaded their office doors, turned out the lights, stayed low to the ground, silenced their phones and sat quietly in the dark -- a skill they learned as children in the halls of learning, now useful to them in the halls of power.
Concluding her commentary, she quoted anti-gun activist David Hogg in mocking the NRA. Here's Menendez:
We'll leave you with the reaction online to news of the NRA's bankruptcy. Gun control advocates across the country responding with just three words -- the same three words the NRA has offered year after year, shooting after shooting, massacre after massacre: "Thoughts and prayers."
This episode of MSNBC's American Voices with Alicia Menendez was sponsored in part by Sleep Number. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC
American Voices with Alicia Menendez
January 17, 2021
7:54 p.m. Eastern
In case you didn't hear, the NRA which was set up in New York after the Civil War, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. They plan to incorporate in Texas. The move appears to be a last-ditch effort to end run around an investigation by the New York attorney general, Letitia James. She's seeking to use her regulatory authority to dissolve the NRA. Her office has been conducting an investigation into the organization's corruption since 2019, accusing it of diverting millions in charitable giving for personal use by senior leadership.
The NRA somehow believes it is in its strongest financial condition in years and says it filed for bankruptcy protection to escape a, quote, "corrupt political and regulatory environment" in New York. But in its court filing in Dallas, it reported between $100 million and $500 million in assets and the same amount in liabilities. New York's A.G. says the NRA's claimed financial status has, quote, "finally met its moral status, bankrupt."
But does the organization still have influence? For decades it has lobbied lawmakers to vote against any sort of gun proposal. The NRA's grip on Washington so tight, the CDC is essentially barred from even studying what causes gun violence. Which we know is an epidemic unique to America. And until now, nothing, nothing, has changed that calculus. The murders of 20 children and six school staffers in Connecticut wasn't enough. Murders of 17 high schoolers and faculty members in Florida wasn't enough. In fact, the NRA has been so successful at preventing action on guns it has helped birth a culture where mass shootings are the norm.
The Capitol Hill riot reminded us of that. The mob stormed the Capitol. Young congressional staffers, including aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, locked and barricaded their office doors, turned out the lights, stayed low to the ground, silenced their phones and sat quietly in the dark -- a skill they learned as children in the halls of learning, now useful to them in the halls of power.
We'll leave you with the reaction online to news of the NRA's bankruptcy. Gun control advocates across the country responding with just three words -- the same three words the NRA has offered year after year, shooting after shooting, massacre after massacre: "Thoughts and prayers."