Geraldo Rivera Doubles Down: Criticizes AR-15s by Tweeting Video of Truck-Mounted Machine Gun

Geraldo Rivera tweeted video of a truck-mounted machine gun in Mogadishu Wednesday as part of his continuing effort to prove AR-15s are machine guns and should be banned.

Rivera’s video also shows a machine gun that is being carried by soldier. Neither of the guns are AR-15s, but he tweeted about them to show his support for an “assault weapons” ban.

Breitbart News noted that Geraldo told hosts on FOX News’ The Five that “AR” stands for “automatic rifle.”

Co-host Greg Gutfeld responded to Geraldo’s claim by saying, “That’s not what it is.”

As Breitbart News has pointed out, “AR” stands for Armalite Rifle. Armalite was the first company to manufacture the AR-15 design in the late 1950s.

Rather than admit his error, Rivera tweeted video showing the use of machine guns during war-fighting in Mogadishu.

He captioned the video: “Up close and personal. I’ve seen what Assault Rifles can do in many conflicts around the globe. This is Mogadishu Somalia 2002.”

Up close and personal. I’ve seen what Assault Rifles can do in many conflicts around the globe. This is Mogadishu Somalia 2002. pic.twitter.com/n4B13uGF2F

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 18, 2023

The video Geraldo posted shows actual machine guns being used in actual war conditions. The guns are not AR-15s, and the AR-15 is not a machine gun.

An AR-15 is a semiautomatic rifle, which means it fires one round–and one round only–with each trigger pull. On the other hand, if someone pulls back the trigger on a machinegun and holds it, the machinegun will fire every round in the magazine, drum, or belt, at a very high rate of speed.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.