Former Arizonan gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake launched a scathing attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman this week after footage showed an alleged aide saying Fetterman would “probably, he’d be OK with like, overturning the Second Amendment.”
The covert recording by the O’Keefe Media Group showed a man identified as one of Fetterman’s aides suggesting the senator would “much better prefer nobody have guns at all.” Newsweek has attempted to verify whether the man in the film is associated with Fetterman.
Among the criticism that Lake dished out, she also claimed that Fetterman outright wanted to overturn the right to bear arms.
L-R: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images; STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images;
The Claim
A tweet posted by Kari Lake, on May 24, 2023, viewed 399,000 times, said: “BREAKING: Undercover Journalist CONFIRMED: Fetterman wants to “overturn the Second Amendment”
“America needs more Senators that respect our Constitution. I might just have to head to the Swamp and stop this Ogre from stomping on our God-given rights.
“Come and take it, John.”
The Facts
In the O’Keefe Media Group footage, the alleged aide tells the woman recording secretly that despite Fetterman owning multiple guns, he is “100 percent for gun control” and the banning of automatic rifles.
When asked what exactly Fetterman would try to ban, the aide said: “Like assault weapons ban. Like, he’d probably, he’d be OK with like, overturning the Second Amendment. Probably. I think he would much better prefer nobody have guns at all.”
Fetterman has previously received support from the gun control advocacy group Giffords and has called for “common sense gun laws”.
While this has made him a target of some pro-firearm activists, there is no record that he wants to overturn the Second Amendment.
The context of Lake’s claim does appear to be based entirely on the O’Keefe Media Group footage. Aside from whether the alleged aide is verifiably an associate of Fetterman, at no point during the conversation does the person confirm that Fetterman wants to overturn the Second Amendment, aside from the view that “I think he would much better prefer nobody have guns at all.”
Much of the interview, involves quick cuts and editing, which also don’t provide the full context of the claims or any other comments that might alter their meaning or interpretation.
Newsweek has reached out to O’Keefe Media Group via a website contact form for comment.
In any case, it is not Fetterman who has said this and whether that view is held privately by Fetterman, there is no evidence or public record that shows he has said it.
Even the NRA Political Victory Fund (the NRA’s political action committee), which has strongly criticized Fetterman’s position on gun control, does not mention any claim that he wants to overturn the Second Amendment.
Therefore, if Lake’s claim is based on the content of the interview, then she is incorrect, both by misrepresenting what was said and, arguably, conflating the words of someone else as Fetterman’s. There also appears to be no evidence to support that Fetterman has said this elsewhere.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Lake via email for comment.
Lake, who has continued to dispute the outcome of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race, recently helped spread a murky rape allegation concerning an 8-year-old girl who had crossed the border from Mexico. The Donald Trump ally said that a young girl had been found with “67 traces of DNA inside her,” criticizing Joe Biden’s administration for failing to protect the southern border.
An investigation by Newsweek found that the central claim was incorrect and that the story surrounding it was littered with inconsistencies, with no verifiable evidence that such an incident was reported to or recorded by the various authorities who would have known.
Newsweek has reached out to a Fetterman representative via email for comment.
The Ruling
False.
Kari Lake’s comments appear to be based entirely on recent footage, in which an alleged John Fetterman aide said the senator would “probably” be “OK with like, overturning the Second Amendment.”
Apart from the fact that this is not the same as affirmatively stating Fetterman wants to do so (as Lake claims), the claim is based on the words of someone else (who is yet to be verified as Fetterman’s aide) from an edited interview.
Newsweek could find no other evidence or record that Fetterman said he wants to overturn the Second Amendment.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team