CNN's Piers Morgan will use any and every tragedy to bolster his
crusade for gun control in the U.S. On his Tuesday night show he hounded
George Zimmerman's brother Robert, Jr. over George carrying a gun the
night Trayvon Martin died. Morgan also pushed for an age 25-and-under
gun ban.
"Obviously, if George had not had a gun on him that night, the distinct
likelihood is that Trayvon Martin would still be alive. Does he regret
now carrying a gun around like that, do you think?" Morgan pressed
Zimmerman. "Do you regret that he had?" The trial of George Zimmerman has only just begun.
[Video below. Audio here [1].]
Even with no jury verdict, Morgan framed Martin as an unarmed victim of
gun violence: "[O]n that night, you had a 17-year-old boy with no gun
just armed with a packet of Skittles and a soft drink, meets your
brother and there's an altercation? If it hadn't been for the gun, they
would probably, probably have both just walked away, and wouldn't have
been seriously hurt."
And Morgan ridiculously pushed for a gun ban on those age 25-and-under:
"Personally, I wouldn't let anyone under 25 have a gun in America. I
don't understand it. At least have an age limit."
This was not the first time Morgan pushed Zimmerman to admit that his brother shouldn't have been carrying a gun. Back in February [2], Morgan arrogantly posed to Zimmerman that "You would accept, would you not, that if your brother had not gone out armed with a gun that day, Trayvon Martin would be celebrating his 18th birthday today."
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on Piers Morgan Live on June 11 at 9:54 p.m. EDT:
PIERS
MORGAN: Obviously, if George had not had a gun on him that night, the
distinct likelihood is that Trayvon Martin would still be alive. Does he
regret now carrying a gun around like that, do you think?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, JR., George Zimmerman's brother: Well, I can't talk about George's regrets but I certainly --
MORGAN: Do you regret that he had?
ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely not. No, I think that sends a wrong message that
if we don't have a gun, then our attacker would still be alive. You
know, maybe George would not. And George is just an example of a very
straightforward self-defense case but that happens all the time. If
you're allowed to have a gun –
MORGAN: But you actually think that Trayvon Martin was going to beat your brother to death? With his bare hands?
ZIMMERMAN: I don't have any idea what Trayvon Martin –
MORGAN: That's what he had. You know, he had a packet of Skittles in
his bare hands. I mean, is that really what you think would have
happened in that case?
ZIMMERMAN: I think that there has been discoverable evidence that's
come forward that shows that Mr. Martin really enjoyed fighting. He
really enjoyed fighting –
MORGAN: But not beating people to death with his bare hands.
ZIMMERMAN: Right. But let me finish about what Mr. Martin enjoyed or
what's evidence that he enjoyed. He enjoyed beating people until he saw
enough blood, going back to attack people until he saw enough blood. He
was very disappointed allegedly, that he had lost fights because someone
had sat on top of him. He really had an interest in guns, marijuana
plants, drugs.
MORGAN: Robert, how much of that is relevant to the fact that on that
night, you had a 17 year-old boy with no gun just armed with a packet of
Skittles and a soft drink, meets your brother and there's an
altercation? If it hadn't been for the gun, they would probably,
probably have both just walked away, and wouldn't have been seriously
hurt.
ZIMMERMAN: I think it's relevant to your question because you said is
it likely that that would have just happened? You know, I don't know
that it's likely that that would have just happened. Because I don't
think they were just two people that just got in a scuffle. I think one
had a proven propensity for violence and a – and a – you know, a history
of participating in that kind of MMA fighting and the other did not.
So I think it's relevant to your question, and also to your point about
guns in this country, Piers. If your children or your high schoolers
want to procure guns for themselves, legally or illegally, at 17 years
old and are asking people to secure guns for them, we have a problem in
this country with guns. And it can't just be after a Newtown or
something like that –
(Crosstalk)
MORGAN: Personally, I wouldn't let anyone under 25 have a gun in
America. I don't understand it. At least have an age limit. Robert,
obviously, as I said, a testing time for you and the family. You're not
the one accused. Appreciate you coming on tonight.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center