DALLAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association, who formally endorsed him, shortly before Trump took the stage at its annual meeting in Texas on Saturday, urging gun owners to have a 2024 deadline. They urged people to vote in the elections.
“We have to let gun owners vote,” President Trump said. “I think you are a rebellious bunch. But this time, let’s rebel and vote.”
In a speech last November, President Trump said the Second Amendment was “very much on the ballot” and insisted they were 100% certain if Democratic President Joe Biden’s term lasted another four years. Crooked Joe has a 40-year track record of attempting to take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
The Biden administration has taken several steps to combat gun violence, including new rules to close loopholes that allow tens of thousands of guns to be sold each year by unlicensed dealers who do not conduct background checks.
Trump pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment, which he says is “under siege” and called himself “the best friend gun owner I have in the White House” as the United States suffers its highest death toll from genocide ever. Yes. shooting incident. Last year was recorded as one of the deadliest years in history, with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has come under fire from Biden, particularly for comments Trump made after a school shooting in Iowa this year. President Trump called the incident “absolutely horrific,” but later said, “We have to get over this.” We must move forward.”
During his speech, Trump called independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “radical leftist” and a “disaster” and noted that Kennedy once called the NRA a “terrorist group.”
“Don’t think about it. “Don’t waste your vote,” he said. “He calls you a group of terrorists, and I call you the backbone of America.” (Kennedy later said in a Fox News interview that he did not remember his 2018 tweet. “I don’t consider them a terrorist group and I support the Second Amendment,” he said.)
President Trump plans to speak at the Libertarian Party convention next week and has said he will urge party members to vote for him.
“We have to join them,” he said. “We have to get that 3% because Joe Biden has no chance of winning.”
On Saturday morning, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced the creation of a new “Gun Owners for Trump” coalition, which includes gun rights activists and those working in the firearms industry.
Biden has made gun violence a major 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 called on Congress to ban so-called assault weapons. This is something Democrats were reluctant to do just a few years ago.
“Tonight, Donald Trump confirmed that he will do exactly what the NRA tells him to do, even if it means more deaths, more shootings, more suffering,” Biden spokesman Amar Musa said.
When President Trump was president, there were moments when he pledged to strengthen gun laws. After the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead and 17 wounded, President Trump told survivors and their families that he would be “very strong on background checks.” He claimed he would stand up to the NRA, but later backed down, saying he “doesn’t have much political support.”
On Saturday, Trump filed a criminal case against him as his hush trial heads into its final stages next week and accused Democrats of being behind the case because he is Biden’s opponent.
“Never forget that our enemies want to take away my freedom. “I will never allow them to take away your freedom,” he said.
Trump criticized Biden’s border policies and reiterated his pledge to order the country’s largest deportation operation. He talked about abortion and warned Republicans not to be too extreme on abortion.
“I think Republicans haven’t talked intelligently about this. “They didn’t talk about it with knowledge,” he said. “Remember. Speak from the heart. But you also have to get elected again.”
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
