Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), the newest 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, is beefing with the NRA’s Dana Loesch.
Last week, Loesch blasted Swalwell’s gun reform plans on NRATV.
Swalwell’s plan, which he unveiled on CNN, includes a buyback of assault rifles, a sticking point of contention with the NRA.
Shannon Watts, the founder of MomsDemand, highlighted the clip of Loesch, saying Loesch accused Swalwell “of disrespecting and disliking police officers” simply because he supports gun reform, while pointing out that “both of his brothers are law enforcement officers.”
https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1117939949066567680
Swalwell, who has made gun reform his major 2020 theme, then replied to Watts’s tweet saying he didn’t know who Loesch was.
“Thank you, Shannon. I spoke at the funeral of a police officer killed by gun violence. I’m running for President to protect them, too. I don’t know who @dloesch is, but it looks like she spends more time worrying about me than she does for gun violence victims. #EndGunViolence,” he wrote on Monday.
Thank you, Shannon. I spoke at the funeral of a police officer killed by gun violence. I’m running for President to protect them, too. I don’t know who @dloesch is, but it looks like she spends more time worrying about me than she does for gun violence victims. #EndGunViolence https://t.co/MmD2CXs5Md
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) April 16, 2019
On Tuesday Loesch fired back, noting that the 2020 hopeful had in fact mentioned her on numerous occasions in the past.
“You’ve directly addressed me many times, so let’s not do that. Actually, it looks like you worry more about law-abiding Americans than criminals. Tell me Rep. Swalwell, how do you plan to confiscate millions of legally-owned firearms, as you said you would on CNN?” she wrote, adding in another tweet: “A lot of direct mentions for someone you don’t know.”
You’ve directly addressed me many times, so let’s not do that. Actually, it looks like you worry more about law-abiding Americans than criminals. Tell me Rep. Swalwell, how do you plan to confiscate millions of legally-owned firearms, as you said you would on CNN? https://t.co/Wz78GlvhFa
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 16, 2019
Swalwell then replied to a Twitter user who pointed out that not knowing who Loesch was—the spokesperson of the NRA—was wasn’t a “good look” for someone running for president with gun reform as their major theme.
“New era, who dis?” he wrote, Loesch replied asking him to answer her question.
New era, who dis? https://t.co/AvVtpjhS0n
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) April 16, 2019
The heart of this argument stems from remarks the California lawmaker made on CNN over the weekend where he said he wanted to ban “military-style semiautomatic assault weapons” and have a buyback program.
In the interview, he was asked whether he believed people would go to jail under his plan if they did not abide by the ban. He said he believed they should, or that they could keep the guns at a hunting club or shooting range.
In a previous Twitter spat months ago, Swalwell was accused of wanting to “nuke” gun owners.
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