There's a procession of 52 school busses that's traveling to Ted Cruz's home and
his office to make a point that you can probably guess from looking at this video.
It is gonna demonstrate the impact of gun violence specifically on children.
Now, this many busses when you stretch it out, it's gonna travel over
about a mile long and each of the seats in the bus is, it totals 4368.
It represents each of the children who has died from gun violence just since 2020.
You could pack all of those busses full of just the kids
that have died in just the last two years.
And for most of you, that is probably horrendous.
But for someone like Ted Cruz and the party, he's a part of the movement,
he's a leader in, it isn't.
It needs to be pointed out to them how unacceptable this should be.
The project is being called the NRA Children's Museum, which is,
that's something.
It's been created by Manuel Oliver who lost his son Joaquin in the 2018 Parkland
shooting.
And in addition to the symbolism of the busses, they actually have items
memorializing some of those who have died in this violence, including the vans of
a 15 year old Gracie who was killed at her Santa Clarita High School back in 2019.
A Kindergartner as a graduation card with a smiling teddy bear on it given
to a sandy hook victim, as well as his children's sized red gloves,
Lebron James Miami Heat Jersey.
That was actually, I believe that was Joaquin's.
I don't know at this point, what can possibly get through to these politicians?
I don't know that making Ted Cruz or any of these other Republicans like
stare at and have to acknowledge how many a mountain of kids that have
been killed in just a few years could possibly get through.
But thank God, there are people like Manuel who are trying,
who are trying to be creative,
trying to figure out how we can stop more busses from being added to that trail.
>> So that's super powerful.
That's busses full of dead children's ghosts coming
to haunt Republicans who allowed them to be murdered
cuz they took millions of dollars from the gun lobby.
And don't get it twisted.
The Republican voters,
first of all are split on the issue in a way that you do not ever see in the press.
Federal background checks poll anywhere from 88% to 97%,
not of Democrats of the whole country.
Federal background checks have significant majority support from gun owners,
not just Republicans, not just right wingers, but from right wing gun owners.
They want it.
So, why don't the Republicans do what their own voters want?
Because their donors are the gun lobby and they say no, no, I'm making money.
Don't want no goddamn background checks.
That's gonna lower the amount of money I make.
If you do federal background checks, less criminals will buy guns.
A criminal buying a gun and a good guy buying a gun,
it's the same profit either way.
So Ted Cruz, I don't care how many dead kids there are.
In fact, when the bad guys kill the kids, everybody panics and buys more guns.
So Ted Cruz and every Republican out there, you're to be a prostitute for
gun manufacturers and let those kids die.
So, I hope they haunt Ted Cruz and every other Republican for
the rest of their lives.
Yeah, it's absolutely, it's a total indictment of not only our democracy,
but just the concept that our country rests on.
That we pretend that the government works for
the people when this issue is just such a clear example of how we absolutely don't,
like Cenk said, there is so much bipartisan support for these issues.
And I think we talked about a lot of really awful things on this show that
our government is capable of, but this will absolutely be one of,
if not the most biggest stains on the American project.
I mean, these busses are haunting and they very much should be,
this is no society with the level of advancement hat we have,
should have to look at these images.
And Ted Cruz and the rest of the GOP who are holding up any bipartisan,
like true bipartisan gun legislation that will actually save lives.
Should, I can't even articulate how just ridiculous this is.
And this our project is, yeah, like you said, what else can we do?
What else can be done if there is so much bipartisan support?
So that's why projects like this are, it's all we have at this point.
>> Yeah, I'm gonna say one last thing.
Actually, I mean your last word to Manuel Oliver himself,
cuz I interviewed him on the conversation a little while back and
I asked him about his son, Joaquin and the loss and I wanna show you what he said.
Which is what he turned out to do with this project.
>> Does it ever get any better?
>> I would say we there's mixed feelings, okay?
And I think that every everyone reacts in a different way and
we all have the right to react in a different way.
As I told you, I'm an artist.
So, I like to express myself.
And every time I express myself using art, I feel better.
And in this particular case, I love sharing stories of my son,
drawings of my son because as I told you before,
it's the only way that I feel that I'm still his dad.
>> Yeah, politicians are the worst people on earth.
>> One final point.
I'm not great at math, but I believe it works out to,
in the next month we're gonna fill up one more bus.
And then one more bus the month after that and the month after that,
you could conceivably think of the midterms as being like three busses away.
Christmas is five busses away and nothing is gonna be done for
all the people who could solve this problem.
If they want to, other countries have.
It's eminently solvable, but we choose not to.