Fred Guttenberg appeared on “Morning Joe” Thursday to say he is ready to play nice with Senator Marco Rubio — if he finally listens to him, that is.
The father of 14-year-old Parkland shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg faced off with the Florida senator while discussing gun control at a CNN town hall Wednesday — a topic that hits very close to home for the grieving father.
Guttenberg, who described his late daughter as “tough as nails,” called Rubio’s response to the Feb. 14 shooting a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “pathetically weak.” Rubio was booed when he refused to say he would reject NRA campaign cash and these shootings would not be solved by gun laws alone.
“Here is what I need, and I said last night to Senator Rubio, I’m just a brutally honest person for better or for worse. And the truth is, if they stand with us and do the right thing I’m going to throw my arms around him and tell him I love him,” Guttenberg told “Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. “And I’ll do it to all the others as well.”
“I need them to be honest,” Guttenberg continued. “I need them to say the truth, which is these kids these teachers, they were killed by a weapon of war in their school. These weapons of war need to be removed from the streets. My heart is big because of friends of mine who have been life long NRA members who are sending me pictures of their cut up NRA cards. And it needs to start there. These politicians need to stop doing the wrong thing because of money they are receiving from that group. Some people stand with the NRA, I stand with MSD, which is Marjory Stoneman Douglas.”
Watch the full interview above.