DALLAS — Former President Donald Trump urged gun owners to vote in the 2024 election as he addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association, which officially endorsed him shortly before Trump took the stage at its annual meeting in Texas, Texas. Saturday.
“We need to get gun owners to vote,” Trump said. “I think you are a rebellious group. But let’s be rebellious and vote this time.”
Trump, in his speech, said the Second Amendment “is on the ballot” in November, claiming that if Democratic President Joe Biden “gets four more years, they will come for your guns, 100% sure.” record year of attempts to wrest firearms from the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
The Biden administration has taken a series of steps to try to combat gun violence, including a new rule that aims to close a loophole that has allowed tens of thousands of guns to be sold every year by unlicensed dealers who do not conduct background checks.
Trump has vowed to continue defending the Second Amendment, which he says is “under siege,” and calls himself “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House” as the United States faces a record number of deaths from attacks in large scale. shootings. Last year ended with 42 mass murders and 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been criticized by Biden, specifically for comments Trump made this year following a school shooting in Iowa. Trump called the incident “very terrible” only to later say that “we have to get past this. We have to move forward.”
Trump, during his speech, also attacked independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling him “radical left” and “a disaster,” and noting that Kennedy once called the NRA a “terrorist group.”
“Do not think about it. Don’t waste your vote,” he said. “He calls you a terrorist group, and I call you the backbone of America.” (Kennedy later said in a Fox News interview that he didn’t remember his 2018 tweet. “I don’t consider them a terrorist group and I support the Second Amendment,” he said.)
Trump noted that he will speak next week at the Libertarian Party convention and said he will ask its members to vote for him.
“We have to join them,” he said. “We have to get that 3% because we can’t risk Joe Biden winning.”
Earlier Saturday, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced the creation of a new “Gun Owners for Trump” coalition that includes gun rights activists and those who work in the firearms industry.
Biden has made reducing gun violence an important part of his administration and re-election campaign, creating the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden also urged Congress to ban so-called assault weapons — something Democrats avoided just a few years ago.
“Tonight, Donald Trump confirmed he will do exactly what the NRA tells him to do — even if it means more deaths, more shootings and more suffering,” said Biden spokesman Ammar Moussa.
When Trump was president, there were times when he pledged to strengthen gun laws. After a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and injured 17 others, Trump told survivors and family members that he would be “very strong on background checks.” He claimed he would take on the NRA, but then backed off, saying “there wasn’t a lot of political support.”
On Saturday, Trump also brought to light the criminal cases against him as his silent trial approaches the final stretch next week and accused Democrats of being behind these cases because he is Biden’s opponent.
“Never forget that our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom,” he said.
Trump has criticized Biden’s border policies, repeating his promise that he will order the largest domestic deportation operation. He spoke about abortion and warned Republicans not to be too radical on abortion to remain electable.
“In my opinion, Republicans have not been talking about this intelligently. They have not talked about it knowledgeably,” he said. “Remember, speak from the heart. But you also need to be elected again.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
