This week on the Sunday news shows: former congressman Beto O'Rourke called his gun confiscation plan "constitutionally sound," Democrats condemned O'Rourke's gun plan, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) renewed her support for the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment movement.
O'Rourke: My Gun Confiscation Plan Is 'Constitutionally Sound'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTVhn_ySzEk
Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke defended his Thursday night comments about gun control during NBC's Meet the Press, saying that his plan to confiscate AR-15s was "constitutionally sound."
"This is something that we're able to do through the Commerce Clause, and this is something that is not prevented from, wouldn't prevent the United States from doing by the Second Amendment," O'Rourke told host Chuck Todd. "So this is constitutionally sound."
O'Rourke added that a confiscation plan was "absolutely necessary" for the safety of Americans, and said many gun owners whom he had spoken to agreed with him.
"Here's something I want to tell you," he said. "Going to a gun show in Conway, Arkansas, stopping at a Buc-ee's in Katy, Texas, yesterday, listening to owners of AR-15s, Republicans, who come up to me and say, 'You know what, I own one of these guns, don't need it to hunt, don't need it for self-defense. This is the right thing to do, and I would gladly give it up because I also have kids in school and fear for their safety.' Or, 'I have grandkids and I want to make sure the country is safe for them.'"
O'Rourke concluded that not only is his plan constitutionally sound, but "there's support beyond the Democratic Party to include Republicans, independents, gun owners and non-gun owners alike to do the right thing."
Cicilline (D): O'Rourke's Gun Plan 'Doesn't Help' Democrats With Gun Control
Rep. David Cicilline (D., R.I.) said former congressman Beto O'Rourke's gun confiscation plan "doesn't help" with Democratic messaging on gun control.
"Look, I think that message doesn't help," Cicilline said on Fox News Sunday. "But the reality is we passed two important gun safety proposals back in February: universal background checks and closing the 'Charleston Loophole.'"
Cicilline went on to praise both measures as reasonable and stressed that Democrats in the House are not currently considering a proposal to accomplish what O'Rourke hopes to achieve.
Cicilline was not the only Democrat to come out against O'Rourke on Sunday. South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg also criticized his gun plan on CNN's State of the Union, saying O'Rourke went too far on the issue. Instead, Buttigieg advocated for bipartisan reforms.
"We've been arguing about this for as long as I've been alive," Buttigieg said. "When even this president and even Mitch McConnell at least are pretending to be open to reforms, we know that we have a moment on our hands. Let's make the most of it and get these things done."
Omar: BDS of Israel Will Lead to a Peace Process
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJGZUjPdEBc
Rep. Ilhan Omar said on CBS's Face the Nation that pushing the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment movement against Israel will bring about peace in the region.
Omar said the BDS movement could be instrumental in bringing about the two-state solution which she and many of her Democratic colleagues support.
"I think what is really important is for people to understand that you have to give people the opportunity to seek the kind of justice they want in a peaceful way, and I think the opportunity to boycott, divest, sanction is the kind of the pressure that leads to that peaceful process," she said.
Omar said during her 2018 run for Congress that the BDS movement was "counteractive" and "not helpful in getting that two-state solution." Once elected, however, she said she "supports the BDS movement."