Ex-GOP Lawmaker To Voters: ‘Beat Republicans. Beat Every Single One Of Them’

Ed Mazza

A former Republican congressman is calling on voters who want gun control to boot all of his old GOP colleagues from office.

“If this is the issue that informs your ideology as a voter, the strength to draw in this moment is to commit to beating Republicans,” former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) said on MSNBC on Monday.

“Beat ’em. Beat every single one of them,” he said. “Even the safe ones in the House, beat ’em. Beat ’em in the Senate. Take back the Senate.”

Jolly urged Democratic presidential candidates who could defeat a Republican senator to drop out and run in those races instead to help flip the chamber. He also encouraged Democrats to unite and beat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Jolly, who was in Congress from 2014-2017, took some of the blame for the party’s failure to act on gun control.

“I tried to move the needle within the party and I failed,” he said. “And it’s important in this moment to acknowledge it.”

But, he said that the problem was ingrained in the party, which had failed to act after some of the nation’s worse mass shootings:

“I find myself today offering the same insight I did the night of the Parkland shooting a few hours from our home in Florida, which is this: Republicans will never do anything on gun control. Nothing. Ever. They won’t.”

Then, Jolly warned his former fellow lawmakers that the tide was turning against them.

“Your time is coming,” he said. “My mom likes to say the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind increasingly and exceedingly fine. That is what has happened to a lot of Republican political careers in moments like this.”

An ardent Trump critic, Jolly quit the Republican Party last year over its support of the president.

Also on HuffPost

Self-Defense (SB 136/HB 331)

Limits Stand Your Ground law, <a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0136" target="_blank">clarifying that police can detain a suspect</a> and mandating law enforcement to track all Stand Your Ground cases. Died in Criminal Justice committee.

Assault Weapons and Magazines (SB1670)

Prohibits the manufacturing, importing, possessing, purchasing, selling, or transferring <a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1670" target="_blank">any assault weapon or large-capacity magazine</a>. Died in Criminal Justice.

Sale of Firearms and Ammunition (SB 1234/HB 1209)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1209" target="_blank">Creates a 4 percent sales tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition </a>by licensed dealers, funds to used by the Behavioral Health Intervention and Treatment Trust Fund. Died in Criminal Justice committee.

Concealed Weapons and Firearms (SB 374/HB 97)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0374" target="_blank">Allows a state agency or local government to prohibit</a> the possession of a concealed firearm and ammunition at specified publicly sanctioned or sponsored events conducted in public buildings or at government-sponsored outdoor public venues. Died in the Criminal Justice committee.

School Safety (SB 1208/HB 325)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1208" target="_blank">Taxes collected on firearms and ammunition</a> shall be allocated to the Safe Schools Trust Fund rather than the General Revenue Fund.
Taxes collected on firearms and ammunition shall be allocated to the Safe Schools Trust Fund rather than the General Revenue Fund.

Sale or Transfer of Firearms at Gun Shows (SB 1272/HB 1051)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1051" target="_blank">Prohibits any person other than a licensed dealer</a> from being a gun show vendor. Died in the Criminal Justice committee.
Prohibits any person other than a licensed dealer from being a gun show vendor. Died in the Criminal Justice committee.

Firearms (SB 1678/HB 1229)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1678" target="_blank">Requires a 3-day waiting period for the sale of any firearm</a>; prohibits the sale of ammunition to a person who has not completed an anger-management program; requires certification of completion of an anger-management program to be renewed every 10 years; Died in Criminal Justice committee.

Weapons or Firearms (SB 1640/HB 1343)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1640" target="_blank">Requires universal background checks</a> for all gun sales. Died in Criminal Justice committee.
Requires universal background checks for all gun sales. Died in Criminal Justice committee.

School Safety (SB 1418/HB 1097)

Authorizes a district school board to designate one or more school safety officers for each school campus and a school principal and district school superintendent <a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1418" target="_blank">to designate certain school personnel to carry a concealed weapon or firearm on school property</a> while performing school duties. Died in Education committee.

Use of Deadly Force (SB 930)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0930" target="_blank">Clarifies that Stand Your Ground defense does not apply</a> to "aggressors" in an altercation. Died in Criminal Justice committee. (PICTURED: Sandra Boden, holds a photo of her son, Jason, during a hearing conducted by the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection in West Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. Jason was shot to death three years ago. Boden said his killer was not arrested due to the "Stand Your Ground" Laws. She begged lawmakers to vote against the laws. The task force examining Florida's so-called "stand your ground" law hears from committees examining issues such as the duty to retreat, what constitutes unlawful activity that allows for deadly force and how courts determine whether a stand your ground defense is justifiable.)

Use of Deadly Force in Defense of a Person (SB 622/HB 4009)

<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0622" target="_blank">Repeals controversial Stand Your Ground law</a>, which provides immunity to people who use deadly force in self-defense. Died in Criminal Justice.

Use of Deadly Force (SB 362/HB 123)

Limits Stand Your Ground law so that <a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0362" target="_blank">immunity does not apply when innocent bystanders are hurt</a> or killed. Died in Criminal Justice.

Privacy of Firearm Owners (SB 314/HB 4017)

Repeals the <a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0314" target="_blank">controversial 2011 "docs vs. glocks" law</a> that banned doctors from asking patients about guns. Died in Criminal Justice committee.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.