LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Republican Donald Trump entered the 145th annual NRA convention here like a hero Friday, winning the the Second Amendment group’s endorsement and promising, “I will not let you down.”
To cheers from a huge audience, the biggest NRA convention in years, he ripped countries like France that have tight gun laws, and said that the recent terror attacks there “might not have happened” if citizens were armed.
“If they knew there were guns in the room it might not have happened,” he said of terror attacks in France, speaking off-the-cuff before turning to a teleprompter for his remarks.
He touched on many pro-gun issues, including a promise to get rid of gun-free zones. He also noted that his sons are hunters and gun owners, adding that they own so many, “even I get a bit concerned.”
It was Trump’s second NRA convention in a row. When he spoke in April 2015, he was not a presidential candidate. That convention was a beauty show of sorts for the GOP race at the time, and speakers included Mike Huckabee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
And he hopes that Sen. Bernie Sanders, challenging Clinton, runs as an independent.
“You talked about a rigged system, he wins every week and he keeps losing,” he joked. “I think Bernie should run as an independent, OK? I do, I would love him to run as an independent. There would the three of us on stage. I love that.”
Trump also fed his fans in the crowd a long riff on winning.
“We are gonna win, win, win. We’re going to win with military, we’re going to win at the borders, we’re going to win with trade, we’re going to win at everything. And some of you are friends and you’re going to call, and you’re going to say, ‘Mr. President, please, we can’t take it anymore, we can’t win anymore like this, Mr. President, you’re driving us crazy, you’re winning too much, please Mr. President, not so much, and I’m going to say I’m sorry, we’re going to keep winning because we are going to make America great again.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
