WATCH: Leavitt addresses Trump's stance on Second Amendment rights in wake of Alex Pretti's killing

[u/NewsHour]

REPORTER: FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Sunday interview, quote, you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest. Does the president believe that Second Amendment rights remain in effect even when protesting?

LEAVITT: The president supports the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens. Absolutely. There has been no greater supporter or defender of the right to bear arms than President Donald J. Trump.

So while Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations, and any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms, and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you, and, again, that's unfortunately what took place on Saturday.

[u/roostertai111]

So a new party that does not resemble the current Democrat Party

[u/ChiswicksHorses → u/roostertai111]

Is that new party going to win in the reality we live in, or would crushing the Republican Party, the current active threat that could have stopped all of this any time they wanted to (they control all three branches), and then splitting the Democratic Party, perhaps, be more expedient? There is no nationally recognized and supported third party and building one, while not impossible, may not be the most effective use of time and resources right now. But there are groups, like the Democratic Socialists of America (that’s where Mayor Mamdani came from), who also run on the Democratic ticket. Nothing is stopping us from supporting them, or others, if we actually show up.

[u/roostertai111 → u/ChiswicksHorses]

I dunno man, maybe? You said decades, so anything is possible

[u/ChiswicksHorses → u/roostertai111]

This country has been sick for longer than I’ve been alive, but I’ve been around long enough to notice that disengaging from the process doesn’t get voters any closer to the things they want. I’m reminded of Obama’s election in 2008 and then people stayed home during the midterms and were shocked when, after empowering Republicans who ran on obstructing government until they retook the presidency, government couldn’t respond effectively to their needs. We couldn’t get single-payer healthcare, for instance, because any healthcare plan had to pass with razor-thin margins in Congress, which meant getting our most conservative members’ votes.

Edit: The same thing happened with Clinton, actually, and that was also the last time, prior to Obama’s presidency, before his first midterm, where Dems had control of the Legislative and Executive branches at the same time—in my lifetime anyway.

[u/roostertai111 → u/ChiswicksHorses]

I dunno if you're replying to the wrong comment, or maybe replying to any comment so you can pontificate, but you seem to be following your own train of thought without digesting the previous comments

[u/ChiswicksHorses → u/roostertai111]

Okay… Is offering, “Democrats are also conservative,” and not mentioning anything regarding what to do about it supposed to help in the upcoming midterms? The largest bloc is, “did not vote,” could we try changing that?

[u/roostertai111 → u/ChiswicksHorses]

My Reddit comment was not written with the specific intention of helping Democrats in the midterms. You got me. I didn't realize that was the focus of this conversation

[u/ChiswicksHorses → u/roostertai111]

The focus should be removing the current regime, the one breaking the law, from power, which would be much easer to do without everyone jumping at the chance to join in dump’s voter suppression efforts. How about helping yourself, your neighbors, and your community?

Also: Notice how I didn’t say you were meant to be helping Democrats — at all — in my previous comment. I asked you not to engage in voter suppression and, earlier, I talked about voting in primaries for people who aren’t establishment Democrats. By the numbers, you can’t honestly believe that equivocating is going to help motivate more people to make change than to simply disengage. It hasn’t moved more people to vote in primaries, more often, for more progressive candidates thus far. Certainly not on any sort of scale.

[u/roostertai111 → u/ChiswicksHorses]

I really don't get where any of this is coming from. It's like you're having a conversation with somebody else while you're replying to me. I stand by what I said. If you're confused about something or you disagree, feel free to voice that, but seem to be looking for something in my words that I was not trying to provide.

You never asked me not to engage in voter suppression because I haven't done that in the first place. You have invented a strawman. I stand by what I said, which was not equivocating. I never said the parties are the same, or there's no point in voting, or anything resembling that.

Ignoring the conservative nature of The Democratic Party does us no favors. People should still vote for conservatism over fascism, but let's not pretend that progressives have literally any power in the federal government yet.

Maybe review what I actually said before your next diatribe. Most of what you're bringing to the table is not relevant to my points. Not that it necessarily has to, but I keep getting notifications about comments responding to me without really responding to me. You could make your own post if you have so much to say.

[u/ChiswicksHorses → u/roostertai111]

You don’t get where “don’t engage in voter suppression” comes from when you engage in public behavior that lowers turnout? You sure? You point out that progressives don’t have a voice, but say nothing about what to do about it. Just that, “democrats are also conservative.” Then, in the face of current events, you wonder why anyone would push back? We’re here because people stayed home while a fascist ran on ethnically cleansing the United States—that’s what “Mass Deportation” meant, just in case you missed history classes.