The National Rifle Association on Friday endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“We have to unite, and we have to unite right now. So on behalf of the thousands of patriots in this room and the 5 million NRA members across this country and the tens of millions who support us, I’m officially endorsing the NRA’s endorsement of Donald Trump for president,” NRA executive director Chris Cox said Fridayat the organization’s leadership forum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Story Continued Below
From Politico:
Before Trump spoke, Wayne LaPierre, NRA’s executive vice president said, “In a few minutes, you’ll hear from a man who offers a very different White House and a far more hopeful nation.“The American dream, enduring freedom. We in this room, we are America’s best hope and this is our moment. In all of history, there’s always been a time and a place when patriots stand up and rise up against the decree of the elites and shout, ‘No more! Get your hands off my freedom!’
“That time and place is now. We stand together. We stand and we fight like hell for freedom,” LaPierre said. “The revolution to take America back starts here, it starts on this day, and by God, we will elect our next president, we will save our freedom and America truly will be great again.”
“Now is the time to unite. If your preferred candidate got out of the race, it’s time to get over it,” Cox said.
“We all know people who won’t be voting,” he continued, citing Adam Brown, a deceased veteran. “We owe it to Adam and people like him to get off our rear ends and get in the arena.”
Trump almost immediately pounced on Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, saying “crooked Hillary” is “anti-gun” and “wants to take your guns away” if elected. He also said deadly mass shootings like the recent one in San Bernardino, California, could be avoided if more people were armed.
“The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before,” Trump said. “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun … candidate ever to run for office. And, as I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish it.”
[socialpoll id=”2361070″]