FIRED UP
Matt Gaetz tells MAGA fans to be ready for an ‘armed rebellion’ and blasts Silicon Valley over ‘cancel culture’
REP. Matt Gaetz told a crowd of MAGA supporters that they have an "obligation" to take up arms against the government and blasted Silicon Valley for canceling conservatives.
made the incendiary remarks while speaking at an America First event in Georgia on Thursday night alongside fellow staunch Trump ally .
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Gaetz told the crowd that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to "maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary."
"We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it," he added.
He then gave "a little history lesson for the fake news media" on the constitutional right to bear arms, continuing: "The Second Amendment is not about, it’s not about hunting, it’s not about recreation, it’s not about sports.
"The Second Amendment is about maintaining, within the citizenry, the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary.
"I hope it never does," the 39-year-old caveat-ed, "but it sure is important to recognize the founding principles of this nation, and to make sure that they are fully understood.”
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Earlier in the rally, Gaetz, , also bemoaned Silicon Valley big tech firms for attempting to "suppress" conservative voices.
"The internet's hall monitors out in Silicon Valley, they think they can suppress us, discourage us. Maybe if you're just a little less patriotic. Maybe if you just conform to their way of thinking a little more, then you'll be allowed to participate in the digital world," he told the crowd.
"Well, you know what? Silicon Valley can't cancel this movement, or this rally, or this congressman."
A clip circulated on Twitter across Thursday night appearing to show Gaetz calling on the crowd to use the Second Amendment against Silicon Valley workers.
However, his remarks about big tech and the right to bear arms were actually made separately and the video was found to have been slyly edited.
Still, the clip was shared and viewed more than a million times and was even published by various media outlets.
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A number of lawmakers also reacted to the doctored clip, including GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who said the remarks were "not speech protected by the first amendment," and went beyond "yelling fire in a theatre."
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu also called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to expel Gaetz from the House Judiciary Committee for "urging people to shoot Silicon Valley employees."
Gaetz's office has been contacted for comment by The Sun about the clip.
Thursday's America First event in Dalton, Georgia, comes as one of a series of rallies being held by Gaetz and Greene as seek to curry favor among supporters of former President Donald Trump.
During her remarks on Thursday, Greene entertained audience members in her hometown of Dalton by impersonating Mexican Cartel members.
"The cartels love the Democrats," she said, before saying in what she described as her "really bad" impersonation of a Mexican accent: "We're makin' a lotta money off of Biden. Joe Biden!"
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Both Gaetz and Greene are currently enveloped in separate scandals.
over allegations he sex trafficking an underage girl. He has denied all wrongdoing, insisting in a March 30 statement that he was being "extorted" by an ex-Justice Department official.
Greene, meanwhile, has been comparing mask mandates inside the House chamber to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.
Calls have mounted the expel her from Congress from the remarks.
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Greene, meanwhile, has doubled down on her statements, insisting "I stand by all of my statements, I said nothing wrong," she said on Saturday.
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"I think any rational Jewish person didn't like what happened in Nazi Germany & any rational Jewish person doesn't like what's happening with overbearing mask mandates and overbearing vaccine policies."
When pressed as to whether she believed Greene should be expelled from Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "I think she should stop talking."
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