Trump Jr. discusses politics, hunting at Lamb fundraiser
Opponents of President Donald Trump have turned him into an underdog and helped his cause with people in the middle of the political spectrum, Donald Trump Jr. said Wednesday.
Speaking at a fundraising event in Oklahoma City for Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, the president’s eldest child said his father’s critics have “overplayed their hand so big and so many times, that I think real people are finally starting to get it.
“So you take the most powerful guy in the world, whatever you want to call it, and you’ve also now made him an underdog. … Real people in the middle, which is probably the majority of America in many respects, they’re getting it and they’re seeing it and I think that only bodes very well for us for the next six years.”
Trump, 40, who worked for his father’s real estate company and now oversees the trust holding the president’s assets, had made hunting trips to Oklahoma before the 2016 election.
Lamb, a Republican running for governor, said he got to know Trump through their mutual interest in hunting. Trump said he was the “Yankee” who won events at Lamb’s annual turkey hunt.
Trump said, “Obviously I’m a big outdoorsman. I don’t know that anybody’s not heard that at this point — especially where I’m from it’s sort of demonized, so I spent a lot of time down in this neck of the woods.
“And so I actually had a ranch just north of Durant for years with another buddy of mine and so I was down here all the time.”
Trump did not deliver prepared remarks at the $500-a-person fundraiser.
In a talk show setting, Lamb asked friendly questions, mostly about the president and his policies.
Trump said the social media platform Twitter has given his father the ability to speak directly to people.
“Despite all the criticism, guess what: He’s driving the narrative every day,” Trump said.
Trump said his father’s “resolve” had led to action on removing trade barriers and on forcing North Korea to engage in talks with South Korea about nuclear weapons.
Leaders of the two countries met and talked last week about an end to nuclear testing and to the Korean conflict that dates back to 1950.
“It’s already historic,” Trump said Wednesday. “If nothing happens from this point on, it’s the greatest foreign policy accomplishment in that region of the world since perhaps before the conflict even started.”
Among those attending the fundraiser on Wednesday were Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources; and Larry Nichols, chairman emeritus of Devon Energy. Both are supporters of Lamb.
Lamb reported this week that he has raised about $3.5 million for his gubernatorial bid, including $1 million transferred from his 2014 re-election account.
The president won
every county in Oklahoma in 2016, and polls show he is popular with Republican voters.
Most of the Republicans running for governor have embraced the president in some form in their campaigns.