Social media users sounded off after President Donald Trump declared people “can’t have guns” in the wake of Alex Pretti’s shooting death.
People bombarded the National Rifle Association’s X account with comments pointing out the president’s comment and questioning whether Second Amendment rights advocates would speak out.
The president made his head-turning guns comment as he departed the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
It was the first time he had spoken in public and answered reporters’ questions after ICE agents killed Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis.
“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns, you just can’t,” Trump said. “You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that.”
After the shooting of Pretti, Trump administration officials shared that he had a gun on him and accused him of intending to kill law enforcement.
But videos and witness accounts showed Pretti was holding a phone in his hand and never brandished a firearm when he was tackled to the ground by ICE agents and killed.
Some federal officials argued it was dangerous to even carry a gun and suggested that doing so could legally justify a gun owner participating in a protest while in possession of their legally obtained firearm, being shot.
The claims sparked outrage from gun rights groups that pointed out that the right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment and slammed the administration’s gun rhetoric following the shooting.
Others seized on the hypocrisy of those justifying Pretti being shot because he had a concealed gun after January 6 rioters openly marched with guns at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 without being shot by law enforcement.
While it was hard to hear the full exchange between Trump and reporters on Tuesday, Trump appeared to suggest “we’ll work something out” when it came to the Second Amendment.
“Uh, what was the question that elicited this response?” wrote former NRA spokesperson and gun rights advocate Dana Loesch, sharing the video of Trump on X.
Other social media users immediately seized on Trump’s comment as they took aim at the NRA on X.
“Can you please confirm that you have spoken to Donald Trump about this proposed change to US gun laws?” one user responded to the NRA with the video clip of Trump.
Another user simply replied to the NRA’s most recent post with the video of Trump declaring, “You can’t have guns.”
Former Meet the Press moderator and podcaster Chuck Todd was also quick to call out the silence by prominent gun rights groups immediately after Trump’s comment.
“The NRA and other gun rights groups would be raising alarms and money off of this statement if said by any president not named Trump,” Todd wrote on X. “What we’re learning is that these folks only care about Constitutional rights when it’s politically convenient.”
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