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CNN's Cuomo Spreads Misleading AR-15 Story, Doubles Down When Called Out

Chris Cuomo / Getty Images

CNN host Chris Cuomo recently spread a misleading story on Twitter about how easy it is to purchase an AR-15, only to double down when called out on the error.

Cuomo retweeted a viral tweet with a picture of a young man holding a gun and text reading, "I was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes. I'm 20 and my ID is expired."

That quote and picture were taken from a 2016 story on the Tab headlined, "I was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes." But once one reads the actual story, they learn that the author did not buy the AR-15; he stopped the purchase at the point at which he would have had to actually fill out paperwork.

"After he walked me through the paperwork, all five pages of it, I told him I changed my mind and wanted to think more before I bought an AR-15," the story reads. "He told me it wasn't a problem and listed the store hours if I wanted to come back. I then said thank you and walked back to my car."

While much of the story harps on the fact that the gun shop failed to note that the young man was using an expired ID, the paperwork in question would have required the vendor to enter the expiration date of his driver's license. The author also says there was "No delay. No extensive background check," ignoring the fact that he called off the purchase before he would have been subjected to a federally required background check.

Cuomo was called out on Twitter days later for sharing a story that was, at best, misleading.

But Cuomo doubled down, saying that the kid's age and expired ID were the real issues (again, ignoring the fact that the gun shop would have checked the ID more thoroughly if the purchase had continued).

That attracted the ire of National Review editor Charles C. W. Cooke.

Cuomo responded by grouping Cooke with a group of alt-right trolls who have attacked the legitimacy of the Parkland shooting survivors and called them "crisis actors."

The CNN host continued to quote tweet critics, while not addressing the charge that he spread a false story.