Congresswoman Debbie Lesko took several by surprise this week after she appeared to say she would shoot her own grandchildren while she took the floor of the House to oppose a gun safety bill.
“I have five grandchildren. I would do anything—anything—to protect my five grandchildren. Including, as a last resort, shooting them, if I had to, to protect the lives of my grandchildren,” she said in Congress on Tuesday.
She went on to hit out at Democrats for attempting to “take away my right to protect my grandchildren” and “the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their own children”.
A video of her speech went viral on Wednesday and was severely rebuked by many.
Responding to critics, Ms Lesko said it was ridiculous for people to think that she would harm her grandchildren, without providing clarification.
“It never ceases to amaze me the lengths gun control zealots will go!” Ms Lesko wrote on Twitter. “They turned my speech about protecting Second Amendment rights and my right to protect my grandchildren from violent criminals into a claim I would harm my own grandchildren. Absolutely ridiculous!”
A Twitter user Laura Basset said: “I have to imagine that this was just a case of really bad grammar. But she really did suggest that she would shoot her own grandchildren.”
On Tuesday, she took the floor to oppose gun control bill HR 2377 among wide-ranging reforms passed by the US House of Representatives in the wake of rising mass shootings. The particular bill deals with the national red flag law to temporarily take away firearms from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Ms Lesko has been a representative from Arizona’s 8th Congressional District since 2018, when she won by a slim margin. She recently received Donald Trump’s endorsement for her 2022 re-election campaign.
She has a history of making inflammatory statements and getting called out, including for her anti-vaccine and anti-abortion rights stance.
After the court struck down Roe v Wade last month, Ms Lasko said: “The US Supreme Court made the right decision on Dobbs. The abortion debate will finally be returned to the people through their elected representatives.”
