Busted! NRA’s Dana Loesch Lied About Florida Crowd Calling For Her Lynching (VIDEOS/TWEETS)



Whenever the National Rifle Association wants to bully its critics into submission, they usually turn to far-right radio host Dana Loesch. You may know Loesch as the woman who jumped all over Barack Obama for–horrors!–inviting victims of gun violence to the White House. You also know her for voicing the NRA’s chilling call to arms against liberal activists, as well as its declaration of all-out war on The New York Times and Donald Trump’s opponents.

But Loesch tried to show a kinder, gentler side when she dropped in at a town hall on Wednesday night sponsored by CNN and the survivors of a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Unfortunately, she only succeeded in making herself look foolish. One of the survivors, Emma Gonzalez–best known for her emotional speech on Saturday in which she declared she and her classmates “call BS” on the NRA–asked Loesch if she supported banning semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Watch here.

Loesch dipped, dived, and danced around Gonzalez’ question, spewing what seemed to be prewritten talking points about strengthening background checks, while slamming Cruz as a “monster.” Gonzalez gave her at least two chances to get back to the question–and Loesch blew them both. That didn’t sit well with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who told Loesch that she really wasn’t standing up for Gonzalez and her classmates “until you say, ‘I want less weapons.'”


Less than 24 hours later, Loesch was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference–and was back to her old self. Watch here.

Most of you have probably seen Loesch claim that deep down, “many in legacy media love mass shootings” because “crying white mothers are ratings gold.” But believe it or not, that wasn’t her worst moment. She also claimed that she feared for her safety in Florida.

“I had to have a security detail to get out. I wouldn’t have been able to exit that if I did not have a security detail. There were people rushing the stage and screaming, ‘Burn her!'”

But there’s one problem. It’s not true. And there’s video to prove it. Specifically, no fewer than three people in the audience recorded the end of the town hall–and there is no evidence whatsoever to support Loesch’s claim that she was the target of a would-be lynch mob.

People were indeed chanting as Loesch was being escorted out of BB&T Center. But they weren’t chanting “Burn her!” They were chanting “Shame on you!” Apparently they had their fill of a woman who can’t be bothered to actually answer questions, or who represents an organization that single-handedly derails common-sense reforms to our gun laws.

One student sitting on the front row also denied that anyone was calling for Loesch to be lynched.

Loesch once vowed that the NRA was going to “fisk,” or expose, the Old Grey Lady. Sorry, Dana–looks like you’re the one who’s just been fisked.


The best-case scenario is that Loesch was playing to a crowd that lives in a bubble where Fox News, One America, and Newsmax are the “news” sources of choice. Whatever the case, there’s no doubt–with apologies to Politifact, Loesch’s smearing of that town hall crowd as a lynch mob is Pants on Fire wrong. Call Loesch out for this blatant lie on Facebook and on Twitter.

(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.