Does Michael Screnock’s Vow To Protect NRA Agenda Include Supporting Threats to Journalists?

MADISON, Wis. — In an unsettling video, National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch threatens “every lying member of the media” and others the gun lobby views as enemies that, “your time is running out.” The national gun lobby endorsed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Mike Screnock in the recent primary election.

“Is the NRA threatening journalists and others with whom they disagree something Michael Screnock supports?” asked One Wisconsin Now Research Director Joanna Beilman-Dulin. “And if he doesn’t, he needs to rebuke the NRA’s spokesperson for this outrageous threat and reject their endorsement of his campaign.”

In a newly released video promoting an NRA television channel, spokesperson Dana Loesch declares, “To every lying member of the media, to every Hollywood phony, to the role model athletes who use their free speech to alter and undermine what our flag represents…Your Time is running out.”

These thinly veiled threats to journalists and others comes on the heels of top NRA officials calling for putting guns in schools in response to calls to protect children from gun violence in schools and opposing common sense background checks.

According to a mailing obtained by One Wisconsin Now, the NRA endorsed Screnock’s campaign saying he had “vowed to protect” firearms and “committed” to their agenda. In order to win the gun lobby’s support, Screnock was required to submit a letter to the organization detailing his positions on the organization’s issues.

Beilman-Dulin noted that Screnock also has snagged the endorsements of other extreme right-wing groups, including a group that wants to ban abortion in all circumstances – even when the life of the mother is in danger. Their radical agenda is in line with Screnock’s own beliefs, having been twice arrested himself for trying to block women from accessing legal health care at an abortion clinic.

She concluded, “Michael Screnock has a decision to make, will he stand by the NRA as they threaten journalists and call for guns in schools or will he denounce this dangerous extremism? The judgement and courage, or lack thereof, he shows on the campaign trail reflects on his fitness to serve on the state high court.”

One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.