Let's Play Ball
Trump's One-Man "Good Cop Bad Cop" Routine with the NRA
President Trump is alternating between praising the National Rifle Association and pledging to take them on in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
“These are great people,” Trump said of the NRA during a bipartisan meeting with members of Congress about gun violence at the White House on Wednesday. “These are great patriots. They love our country.”
But Trump left no doubt as to who he thinks is in charge. “I'm the biggest fan of the Second Amendment. Many of you are. I'm a big fan of the NRA,” he said. “But I had lunch with them — with [NRA leaders] Wayne [LaPierre] and Chris [Cox] and David [Lehman] — on Sunday and said, ‘It's time.’ We got to stop this nonsense. It's time.”
At one point, he said members of Congress — including Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., whose bipartisan background checks bill he was praising — fear the NRA. “I said, 'Fellas, we got to do something,'” Trump later added, telling lawmakers, “And they do have great power, I agree with that. They have great power over you people. They have less power over me. I don't need it. What do I need?”
This echoes comments Trump made to governors earlier this week. "Don't worry about the NRA, they're on our side," he said. "Half of you are so afraid of the NRA. There's nothing to be afraid of. ... And you know what? If they're not with you, we have to fight them every once in a while, that's OK. Sometimes we're going to have to be very tough, and we're going to have to fight 'em."
It’s part of a delicate dance Trump is having with the gun rights group after the latest mass shooting — and a highly public campaign by friends and relatives of its 17 victims — has increased pressure for legislative action aimed at stopping such events in the future.
Trump is launching a charm offensive to try to bring the NRA along on new gun legislation while at the same time reserving the right move in a different direction. “There’s no bigger fan” of the NRA than he, the president told lawmakers. “But that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything.”
Democrats tried to woo Trump too. “We will get 60 votes on a bill that looks like the Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks, Mr. President, if you support it,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who added, “But, Mr. President, it's going to have to be you that brings the Republicans to the table on this because, right now, the gun lobby would stop it in its tracks.”
“President Trump is showing great leadership on this issue by listening to various stakeholders and he wants to do something concrete and fact-based to protect school children,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “Because Donald Trump received the earliest presidential endorsement in NRA history, he can move the ball on this issue, but even he has his limits.”
And then there's this:
If Obama, like @realDonaldTrump, had said “take the guns first, due process second,” conservatives would’ve marched on D.C. with pitchforks.— Larry Elder (@larryelder) March 2, 2018
3 comments:
Larry Elder is right. And we should march on D.C.
Agree with Pete above. Larry Elder's radio show in the early '90s helped turn me around from being a basic lib to a rock solid conservative. He calls balls and strikes like they should be called.
Trump DOES NOT like narratives. They are the domain of individuals with average I.Q. When he plays both sides, he is essentially decimating narratives, sending both sides scrambling to save their miserable little messages.
Too long -narratives have been sacred cows that none can touch. Trump sez - why not eat the cow?
He wants to FORCE sides to talk with each other honestly - not approach with political sooth-saying, or in the case of the media ghost writing.
Excellent post.
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