Manuel Oliver, who lost his son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver in the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., last year, spoke out Thursday on his confrontation with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during a gun violence hearing the day before.
During the hearing, Gaetz argued that violence by undocumented immigrants was a graver concern than people accessing guns without background checks. He also advocated for building President Trump’s long-promised wall at the southern border.
Oliver interrupted Gaetz at the hearing, and Gaetz then tried to have him removed.
“Don’t bring the wall as a solution for everything,” Oliver said the next day on CNN’s New Day. “It’s pretty offensive.”
He added that Gaetz was “wasting time” that could be used to “solve the problem” of gun violence.
“You’re a salesperson that pretends to sell the wall…in the wrong room,” he said.
Oliver told CNN that he did not hear from Gaetz after the incident.
“I can’t wait for this name to be out of my story, because the real name that I’m concerned about is Joaquin Oliver.”
Oliver’s clash with Gaetz came a day after Oliver attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as a guest of Ted Deutch (D-Fla.). Since his son’s death, Oliver has advocated for stricter gun control laws.
The Hill has reached out to Gaetz’s office for comment.