CNN's Alisyn Camerota wins leftist cheers for grilling GOP lawmaker on why Texas can 'protect the unborn embryo' but not 'living, breathing 10-year-olds'
CNN's Alisyn Camerota is garnering left-wing kudos after grilling a Republican lawmaker from Texas on why his state can "protect the unborn embryo" through abortion restrictions but not "living, breathing 10-year-olds" in the wake of the mass killing of 19 children in an elementary school in Uvalde on Tuesday.
What went down?
Camerota and Victor Blackwell, anchors for CNN Newsroom, on Wednesday asked Texas state Rep. James White what the Texas legislature should do in response to heartbreaking murders at Robb Elementary School.
After replying that lawmakers should let authorities conduct an investigation and then going over the timeline of the atrocity, a clearly agitated Camerota interrupted White and hit the lawmaker with a double-whammy "gotcha" question that appeared to campaign for abortion rights and gun control simultaneously.
“What we want to know is what your solution is,” Camerota said to White, adding that "we’ve all seen how quickly and creatively Texas — your local legislature — can act when it wants to ... protect the unborn embryo. Why not act with that alacrity to protect living, breathing 10-year-olds in this school behind me?”
Camerota continued in activist mode as she suggested to the lawmaker with a raised voice, "Use that same blueprint that you use for your abortion law, make there be waiting periods, make them have to come back to the scene more than once, make them have to answer questions. Why can't you protect living 10-year-olds?"
She presumably was referring to Texas' 2021 law prohibiting abortions as early as six weeks or once a fetal heartbeat is detected; it also allows lawsuits against those who perform abortions.
What happened next?
White replied that "we have this thing called the Constitution" and added that authorities need to pay attention to "these young men, for some reason, that have some very disturbed emotional state. We need to look at our mental health system.”
Blackwell interrupted White and asked for evidence that mental health played a role in the Uvalde massacre, telling him that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said "there is no known connection to mental health illness. The statement from the NRA — you have a 92 percent rating from the NRA, you're a lifetime member — they say that this was the act of a lone, deranged criminal. There was no evidence that there was mental illness.”
White argued back that "deranged" would seem to indicate a mental health problem and that lawmakers are going to "look at everything.”
But Blackwell — perhaps sensing White was on the ropes — interrupted him again: "Are you gonna look at the guns?"
White said yes and added that "we're going to look at the people who do these acts, we’re going to convict them, and we’re going to punish them."
An excited Camerota jumped back in and said, "You can’t convict him, sir. You can’t convict him. He was killed. He was killed, along with 19 children in the school behind me.”
Alisyn Camerota Asks GOP Rep ‘Why Not Protect Living, Breathing 10-Year-Olds?’ youtu.be
How did folks react?
After word spread about the interview, leftists on Twitter cheered loudly for Camerota and for Blackwell:
- "@AlisynCamerota bless you and thank you for pushing for the truth and accountability to the people — the essence of good journalism. Thank you," one commenter said.
- "Yup. @AlisynCamerota please spread that energy to all your colleagues in the media and don't stop until change happens," another user wrote.
- "CNN's Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell show how news anchors ought to interview gun-loving Republicans," another commenter said.
- "Big props to CNN’s Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, going OFF on ... Texas Rep. James White," another user exclaimed.
- "@AlisynCamerota thank you for asking the right questions! Not being hesitant to ask the really tough questions that MUST be addressed right now! Nobody needs an assault weapon unless they are military or police!" another commenter said. "They need to all be confiscated & destroyed. Full stop!"
- "She's over it. @AlisynCamerota is done with the bulls**t. We are with you," another user noted.
- "Happy to see @VictorBlackwell and @AlisynCamerota passionately (Alisyn almost in tears) grilling GOP Texas state legislator about gun control right now outside Robb Elementary," another commenter observed. "We need this so so so badly from all media."