NRA warned of ‘leftist zealots’
touting his “America First” trade policy and the slogan “Make America Great Again” that adorned the hats of many supporters.
Trump also mocked the large group of Democrats who are already exploring possible presidential runs in three years, taking a special shot at the Native American heritage of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “It may be Pocahontas, remember that,” Trump said of his potential reelection opponent. “And she is not big for the NRA.”
While a series of national polls give Trump record-low approval ratings for a new president, they also reveal strong and continuing support among Republicans.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post survey gave Trump an overall approval rating of only 42%, but also said that 96% of the people who voted for him last November still back him. The poll also said Trump would win a hypothetical re-match with Democrat Hillary Clinton, 43% to 40%.
That support among conservatives was evident as volunteers and vendors set up booths — “15 Acres of Guns & Gear,” the signs say — throughout the Georgia World Congress Center ahead of Friday’s NRA meeting. “The gun owners are middle America,” said Ron Sasaki, 49, a police officer from western Washington state and member of a group called AmericanSnipers.org. “We relate to him more, and he relates to us more, than regular politicians.”
NRA members who watched Trump praised him not only on gun rights, but for other efforts such as his tax cut plan and his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. They also dismissed critics of these and other Trump plans.
“The minute anything comes out of his mouth, they’re going to oppose it,” said Don Spruill, 75, a retired marketer for Coca-Cola who lives in Marietta, Ga., of Trump’s opponents.
Wife Judy Spruill echoed other NRA members in her disdain for Washington politicians and the fact that Trump doesn’t resemble them.
“He is so politically incorrect,” she said. “We love that; at least I do.”
NRA officials also defended Trump’s 100-day progress and denounced his critics. Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, told members ahead of Trump’s speech that they were the ones who helped get him elected, telling them “we didn’t just swing an election, we altered the course of history.”
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said gun owners must beat back “leftist zealots” who are determined to “destroy President Trump.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers threw cold water on the idea that