"Death and destruction like we have never seen before" - Donald Trump motivates gun owners to vote for him at NRA meeting
5:58 PM EDT, May 19, 2024
During the annual NRA meeting in Dallas, in his over-two-hour speech, Republican candidate former President Donald Trump tackled gun rights, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a "fly that's driving [him] crazy," and conspiration theories about 2020 elections."
Former President Donald Trump, during his NRA speech, operated within similar motives, evoking the gun rights activists' fear of changes in the interpretation of the Second Amendment. Moreover, he also aimed to discredit independent candidate - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and painted a picture of anti-gun President Joe Biden.
"So, I think you're a rebellious bunch. So let's be rebellious and vote this time."
The former President, during his speech, aimed to threaten gun enthusiasts gathered in Dallas during the NRA meeting with the alleged President Biden policy threatening gun owners. As he encouraged them by calling them "great patriots," he emphasized the critical role of gun owners in his political race. As he claimed, "If gun owners would vote, we would swamp them at levels that nobody's ever seen before," supplementing his statement with words, "So, I think you're a rebellious bunch. So let's be rebellious and vote this time."
Part of Trump's speech focused on discrediting President Biden and the introduced by him gun laws. Donald Trump stated, without citing specifics or proposing his solutions, that the possible re-election is "a death and destruction like we have never seen before." He claimed, "If the Biden regime gets four more years, they are coming for your guns." Being applauded by the crowd, he promised them, "In my second term, we will roll back every Biden attack on the Second Amendment."
Former President Trump is known as a strong gun enthusiast, calling himself "the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House." During the NRA convention in February, he stated, "During my four years, nothing happened. And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield." However, during his term, after the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States, which occurred in 2017 in Las Vegas during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, then-President Trump rolled out a bump stock ban. The lawfulness of the ban has now been decided by the Supreme Court, with the full support of President Biden. However, after another mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where the perpetrator was a MAGA enthusiast and Trump supporter, the former President opted for being "very strong on background checks" yet did not take any specific action toward it.
Everytown for Gun Safety commented on Trump's statements and promises concerning the "protection of the Second Amendment." John Feinblatt, the group's president, commented, "Donald Trump once again made clear that he is all in on the NRA’s politically toxic agenda of undoing the life-saving progress we have made on gun safety under President Biden... As his first term showed us, we must believe Trump when he says that he will do nothing to protect our communities from gun violence if re-elected."
"This fly is brutal. I don't like flies!"
Donald Trump did not oppose commenting on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who, according to the polls, is a more threatening candidate for him than Joe Biden, due to the possibility of targeting the swinging libertarian and conservative voters.
He urged the NRA crowd that "we can’t waste any votes," mentioning that "he's radical left. Don't think about it. Don't waste your vote." Additionally, he claimed, "We need a conservative person with common sense. This guy is radical left who destroyed New York," further targeting Kennedy by saying, "Actually, he's a disaster. He reminds you of this fly that's driving me crazy up here," pointing out to the fly he continued, "This fly is brutal. I don't like flies!" Trump advised people not to vote for Kennedy due to a lack of specific policy and is, according to Trump, seen as a far-left politician.
[You] can't vote for him. You can't. You know, somebody said, well, they like his policy on vaccines the other day. He said, no, no, he'll go for the vaccine. He's nice. He's got no policy or anything. He's radical left. He always has been.
Likewise, Trump suggested he would accept the invitation to the Libertarian Party's national convention to win over the voters who may have favored Kennedy. He claimed Libertarian voters, whose beliefs align with the Republican party, "have so much of what we have," pointing out the stable and faithful voters since "They get 3% every year no matter who is running." The convention will be held from May 23rd to May 26th in Washington. Robert F. Kennedy will also speak during the convention on May 24th, with the former President being a guest the day after.
Sources: New York Times, ABC, Fox News, NBC News
