DALLAS — Former President Donald Trump is expected to address thousands of members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Texas a day after campaigning in Minnesota, in the midst of his trial.
Donald Trump vowed to continue defending the Second Amendment and called himself ‘the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House’ as the country faces record deaths due to mass shootings. Last year ended with 42 mass shootings resulting in 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been criticized by President Joe Biden, particularly for remarks he made earlier this year after an Iowa school shooting, which he called “truly terrible “, and then say that “we have to get over it. You need to go forward.”
Speaking at a campaign event in Minnesota on Friday, Donald Trump said: “You know, it’s an incredible thing. People who have guns, people who legitimately have guns, love guns and use them for good purposes, but they tend to vote very little and yet they have to vote for us. There’s no one else to vote for because Democrats want to take their guns away and they will take them away.”
He added that “that’s why I’m going to talk to the NRA tomorrow and say, ‘You need to get out and vote.'”
When Donald Trump was president, he at times pledged to strengthen gun laws. After a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and injured 17 others, Trump told survivors and family members that he would be “very strict on background checks “.
He claimed he would stand up to the NRA, but then backtracked, saying there was “not a lot of political support.”
On Saturday, he is expected to deliver the keynote address as the powerful gun lobby holds a forum in Dallas. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott will also speak at the convention. Prominent gun safety groups that have already supported Biden plan to protest near the convention center where the gun lobby plans to meet.
While Mr. Trump enjoys strong support in Texas, Democrats believe they have a chance to score a surprise in November with former NFL player, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who will campaign for unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in 30 years, the longest such streak in the United States.
Donald Trump campaigned in Minnesota on Friday after attending his son Barron’s graduation in Florida.
