In the wake of the execution of a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis at the hands of a federal force, Republicans abandoned all pretenses that they support the rights of Americans to be armed to stand up to a tyrannical government.

Led by Donald Trump, one after another left no doubt that the protections provided to Americans by the Second Amendment (and the First, for that matter) do not apply if they are in charge.

“This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about?” asked Trump in a social media post containing a picture of the gun that the victim, who was allowed to carry it, allegedly carried when exterminated.

The answer to the president’s question is: “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms” that “shall not be infringed.” That’s what this is all about.

Trump wasn’t alone in displaying either a stunning ignorance of the rights of Americans according to the Second Amendment or an indifference toward them.

“I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem right after lying about the victim, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, attacking his killers. “This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons.”

Noem, who accused Pretti of “domestic terrorism,” which is apparently what the administration calls it when someone videotapes federal thugs and helps a woman who was pushed to the ground, earned an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association when in Congress, was endorsed by the organization when she ran for governor, and said “I am the NRA” ahead of its 2023 convention.

In this case, that certainly seems to be correct… because the group is also not speaking out on behalf of Pretti, who merely exercised the right that it pretends to support.

Over on Fox, where the right-wing propaganda network was busy trying to spin the execution of an American citizen, which was captured from various angles, into something more palatable to its viewers, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) accused Pretti of approaching law enforcement (he did not) and intervening while they were doing their job (which is only true if their job is to make sure that women they push to the ground are not assisted) while having a loaded handgun, as though that is illegal.

Hoeven is a strong supporter of allowing Americans to carry concealed weapons… just not in this case.

Also on Fox, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), never afraid of using a good lie to advance the cause, also made it sound as though being in the legal possession of a firearm should carry a death sentence.

“A deranged individual who came in to cause massive damage with a loaded pistol was shot and killed,” he said. It stands to reason that Mullin, an NRA-endorsed senator, might wish that he had watched the video of the execution before lying about what happened.

These are just some examples among many.

Also, at press time, Kyle Rittenhouse, who posted this to social media last week, had also not commented… and if you don’t know who that is, Google him and see how Republicans felt about him.