Apparently helping to incite an insurrection wasn’t enough violence for Matt Gaetz. Now, the Florida congressman is telling his supporters they have an “obligation” to use the Second Amendment.
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In a disturbing speech during a stop on his “America First” rally with Marjorie Taylor Green, Gaetz bemoaned the reach and power tech companies have. “The internet’s hall monitors out in Silicon Valley, they think they can suppress us, discourage us,” Gaetz told his supporters in Dalton, Georgia. “Maybe if you’re just a little less patriotic, maybe if you just conform to their way of thinking a little more, then you will be allowed to participate in the digital world?”
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“Well, you know what? Silicon Valley can’t cancel this movement, or this rally, or this congressman.”
Later, Gaetz made a separate point about the Second Amendment (which was deceptively edited to make it appear as though Gaetz was calling on his supporters to take up arms against Silicon Valley employees)—”We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it.”
“The Second Amendment—this is a little history for all the fake news media—the Second Amendment is not about hunting, it’s not about recreation, it’s not about sports,” said Gaetz. “The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government, if that becomes necessary.” (This is not true.)
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been under attack by conservatives who believe, like Gaetz, that the sites are “censoring” conservatives—despite the evidence showing otherwise.
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What these sites have done—and some would argue far too late—is deactivate users who have incited violence, such as former President Donald Trump leading up to and during the Capitol riot on January 6.
And Gaetz’s response to this attempt at keeping people safe, apparently, to simply incite more violence.
*First Published: May 28, 2021, 8:07 am
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