Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” gun control advocates and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors Cameron Kasky and David Hogg discussed President Donald Trump’s speech in Dallas during at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Leadership Forum.
Kasky said, “Well, you know, he was saying some things that implied that he was stepping forward into the right direction for gun safety in this country, and then he had a meeting with some NRA officials, a private meeting, and afterwards he came and claimed that the Second Amendment was under siege and he was going to defend it. So as to whether or not the NRA meeting changed his views, that’s kind of up to speculation, but I will tell you that is hopefully the first Russian-funded group he has met with.”
When asked if Trump was scared of the NRA, Kasky said, “I think he is very interested in the money that the NRA will bring him and that the NRA in turn gets from gun manufacturers. You know, the NRA used to boast itself as being an average joe coalition of Americans who are trying to protect their Second Amendment rights, and now you will see that they are getting a lot of kickbacks from gun manufacturers. So I don’t necessarily think Trump is scared of the NRA, I think Trump is very enamored with the financial support that the NRA gives him.”
Hogg said, “I think the people in this situation that are really scared would be the NRA. This is the first time they had the president and vice president at the same time come out to the annual convention for the NRA. What we are seeing here is they are worried because of the support we’ve been getting and the support we’ll have in mid-terms. Like it or not, we don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, if you are supported by the NRA, you don’t stand with kids, you stand with the gun manufacturers and people making money off this fear and tragedy that’s perpetrating itself.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.