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June 18, 2025
Rep. Raskin is Hardly the ‘Founding Fighter’ He Thinks He Is
U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has a mighty high opinion of himself. He just ranked himself among the courageous and enlightened Founding Fathers who established the United States as an independent Republic.
I’m not kidding.
Rep. Raskin spoke with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace about the “No Kings” protests, using it as an opportunity lash out against President Donald Trump.
“You know, the first three words of the Constitution refute everything Donald Trump has been trying to do. ‘We the People.’ We don’t have kings here, we don’t have monarchs and queens and dictators,” Rep. Raskin said.
He wasn’t done.
“You know, I said none of us will ever get to be founding fathers in the 18th century, but we can be founding fighters in the 21st!”, Rep. Raskin added, according to Townhall.com.
Tough Comparison
Here are the similarities, from what I can tell, that Rep. Raskin shares with the men who shook off a tyrannical king, fought a war for independence and founded a nation that continues to prosper. It’s not a long list. He’s from Maryland, one of the original 13 colonies, and he serves in Congress.
Beyond that, it’s a tough comparison. However, considering his rather bold claims, here are a few things that demonstrate he shares nothing in common with the Founding Fathers.
First, Rep. Raskin wasn’t shaking off being ruled by a king. President Donald Trump was elected by – wait for it – “We the People.” He wasn’t a king before the protests and isn’t a king after.
Contrasts – Just to Name a Few
That’s in stark contrast to the Founding Fathers. Starting with those who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, 12 years before New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, putting it into effect as the supreme law of the fledgling United States. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were essentially signing a death warrant. They were openly objecting to the sovereignty of King George III. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress in 1776, already had a bounty on his head. In signing the Declaration he boldy said, “There, John Bull can read my name without spectacles, he may double his reward, and I put his at defiance.”
Fifty-five additional Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, including Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Several of the signers actively fought against British forces. Legends abound of several more signers facing high personal costs for their actions, though those legends have been challenged.
Rep. Raskin has comfortably served in Congress since 2017 and served in Maryland’s state Senate for nine years prior to that.
Free Men and Arms
In 1791, Congress passed the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which included the right to keep and bear arms. That was an unequivocal principle for the Founding Fathers who believed private firearm ownership was essential to freedom.
Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence, also drafted Virginia’s Constitution. In his original draft he wrote “No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” The right to keep and bear arms is still protected in Virginia’s Constitution.
James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and America’s fourth president, wrote in Federalist 46 that private firearm ownership was an essential trait of the American character. “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
Contrast that with Rep. Raskin. He introduced legislation to block Defense contracts to firearm manufacturers if criminals misuse their products in crimes. He wants a national permit-to-purchase scheme that would necessitate a national firearm registry. He cosponsored legislation to ban the most popular-selling semiautomatic centerfire rifle in America – the Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR). Rep. Raskin wanted to shutter firearm retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic to deny Americans their Second Amendment right to legally purchase a firearm at a time when firearm purchases were at their highest.
That’s a far cry from a “Founding Fighter.” That’s more akin to the British loyalists in the American colonies who supported foreign troops raiding and seizing firearm and powder stores. Let’s not forget the American Revolution was sparked by the Battles of Lexington and Concord, when British regulars marched to seize powder from armories. They were met not by standing armies but by armed citizens who opposed a tyrannical government.
Rep. Raskin’s self-announced title of “Founding Fighter” is a delusion of grandeur.
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