The liberal media that had forever denounced the Second Amendment and had worked hard to chip away at our freedom to keep and bear arms, had obtained a new respect for it as they expressed overt desires for firearms be used against the Trump administration. On Monday, the same day that ABC’s The View wanted to justify bringing guns to confront ICE, CNN host Kasie Hunt used her show The Arena to make the case that what we were seeing the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota was the kind of “tyranny” the Second Amendment was meant for.
Hunt set the tone for how she was going to exploit the death of liberal anti-ICE agitator Alex Pretti. It was clear that Hunt was acting as an activist as she demanded people not look away from an image she was gratuitously flaunting of Pretti the moment before he was shot to death; complete with a theatric tone of voice and dramatic pauses:
So, we're going to show you an image of that moment. And again, I'm warning you, I keep warning you, it's disturbing because it is incredibly hard to look at. Though, I will also say that for Alex and for all of us, none of us should look away.
So, this is Alex Pretti, a nurse who took care of our veterans who had been helping a woman up off the ground. He's on his knees in the street, seemingly disarmed, a gun aimed at his back, one shot already fired, about to be shot as many as nine times by federal agents [pause] in America. [Pause] In America.
Note that the dramatic pauses were meant to suggest that something unthinkable from a despotic regime was happening “[pause] in America. [Pause] In America” like never before.
CNN was no stranger to theatrics. During the defamation trial they lost last year, video evidence surfaced of now-former CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt faking a call with Navy veteran Zachary Young and declaring “theater!” after they were done filming.
Hunt thought she was being cute when, later in the show, she quoted a tweet from late conservative activist Charlie Kirk about the purpose of the Second Amendment; being meant for a nightmare scenario where the federal government turned on its people. She followed the quote by pointing to Minneapolis as fitting that description:
I want to bring back a tweet from Charlie Kirk in 2018. He says this, “The Second Amendment is not for hunting. It is not for self-protection. It is there to ensure that free people can defend themselves if, God forbid, government became tyrannical and turned against its citizens.” And I think a lot of people are pointing to this because, I mean, what we saw in the streets!
CNN's Kasie Hunt suggests people should be pointing guns at the Trump administration because it has become "tyrannical" citing "what we saw on the streets" of Minneapolis:
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 26, 2026
"I want to bring back a tweet from Charlie Kirk in 2018. He says this, 'The Second Amendment is not for… pic.twitter.com/qZq6Z2qnTu
The conversation on CNN would touch on the Kenosha, Wisconsin shooting that involved Kyle Rittenhouse. They were suggesting the existence of a hypocrisy on the right by falsely claiming he brought guns to a “protest.” No, Rittenhouse and others brought firearms to private property to protect it from violent riots that had been terrorizing the city after local authorities refused to protect people. Additionally, Rittenhouse fired in self-defense against other citizens, not a government.
Another example used by liberals in their attempts at a gotcha argument was the 2020 incident involving Patricia and Mark McCloskey in St. Louis, Missouri. Leftist in the media had claimed the married couple brought guns to a “protest.” Again, no. The McCloskeys stood with firearms on their own property after leftist rioters broke into a private community to accost the residents.
Between ABC, CNN, and the liberals online that they were parroting, the left was playing with a fire that they didn’t understand, but with a dangerous intent. Hunt’s comment could fill a similarly ignorant and delusional liberal with the confidence to do something inadvisable, putting themselves and others in a bad situation that they would likely lose in a tragic fashion. Especially at a time when several leftist extremists had already tried to kill several conservatives.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s The Arena
January 26, 2026
4:05:50 p.m. Eastern(…)
KASIE HUNT: So, we're going to show you an image of that moment. And again, I'm warning you, I keep warning you, it's disturbing because it is incredibly hard to look at. Though, I will also say that for Alex and for all of us, none of us should look away.
So, this is Alex Pretti, a nurse who took care of our veterans who had been helping a woman up off the ground. He's on his knees in the street, seemingly disarmed, a gun aimed at his back, one shot already fired, about to be shot as many as nine times by federal agents [pause] in America. [Pause] In America.
(…)
4:39:27 p.m. Eastern
HUNT: I want to bring back a tweet from Charlie Kirk in 2018. He says this, “The Second Amendment is not for hunting. It is not for self-protection. It is there to ensure that free people can defend themselves if, God forbid, government became tyrannical and turned against its citizens.” And I think a lot of people are pointing to this because, I mean, what we saw in the streets!
(…)
