A St. Louis man who became an internet sensation after using an AR-style rifle to defend his property from anti-racism protesters went viral again for his performance on CNN Tuesday night.
Mark McCloskey was no longer open-carrying when he appeared on the network, but he clearly came ready for verbal combat.
At one point, anchor Chris Cuomo alleged that President Donald Trump had retweeted a video of McCloskey’s now-famous Sunday showdown for racist reasons.
- McCloskey, 63, a trial lawyer and married father of one who repeatedly donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign, fired back, “I’m glad you’re a mind reader, because no one else thinks you are.”
- Clips of the exchange have been viewed at least 1.5 million times on Twitter, where McCloskey has receiver further adulation from the right.
In defense of his own actions against the protesters, McCloskey told Cuomo, “The reason they did not get up my steps was that my wife and I were there with weapons to keep them off the steps.”
An American hero: McCloskey achieved conservative icon status after videos like the one Trump tweeted began circulating on social media.
In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, McCloskey explained to host Tucker Carlson that he and his wife, who also waved a semi-automatic handgun at the crowd of protesters outside their home, were just trying to stay alive.
- Rejecting claims that the couple’s actions were racist, McCloskey said, “I wasn’t worried what the race was for the mob that came through my gate, I was worried that I was going to be killed.”
