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Trump on Las Vegas Mass Shooter: If He Didn’t Have 55 Guns, He Would Have Had 55 Bombs

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“I’m a Very Big Second Amendment Person,” Trump Says

Donald Trump believes that if the madman responsible for the Las Vegas massacre four months ago hadn’t purchased 55 guns in one year, he’d have purchased 55 bombs.

Or so he told Piers Morgan in an interview airing Sunday. Morgan and the Daily Mail have been promoting the interview for several days via Twitter, revealing “shocking” tidbits such as these:

It’s been less than four months since the Las Vegas massacre, where a madman killed 58 innocents and wounded 489 others during a country music concert. The tragedy became the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, though it sadly isn’t even the most recent. 

Last week, USA Today reported that the gunman had purchased at least 55 guns in the year ahead of the tragedy. Perhaps surprisingly, Morgan questioned Trump on the matter. Ahead of the interview, he published a piece through the Daily Mail detailing much of their conversation.

“I’ve locked horns many times with Trump about America’s appalling culture of gun violence,” Morgan wrote, “but not since he’s been President. Now I had my chance. What followed was as depressing as it was shocking and predictable.”

“‘People will be saying, you’re very tough on security, you want to keep Americans safe – but you don’t do anything about gun violence at all,’ I challenged him,” Morgan asserted. “‘That seems an irrational position for somebody who wants to keep Americans safe.’”

Morgan continued:

‘Right, right,’ he replied. ‘I’m a very big Second Amendment person [the part of the constitution giving the right to bear arms], as you know very well.

‘But take a look at Paris, where you have very, very tough gun controls. Take a look at that horrible slaughter that took place at the cafes, where so many people were killed. And you had these thugs come in with guns and, one by one, for a long time, they just killed – and hundreds of people wounded, to this day, still in the hospitals. That was one of the worst.

‘And you’ve had many of them [similar incidents] where there are no guns except for the bad guys. So the bad guys have the guns and if you would have had somebody with a gun when they walked in so that you could have had bullets going in the other direction, you wouldn’t have had hundreds of people killed.’

This is same absurd ‘the only answer to gun violence is more guns’ argument trotted out by the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobby group who have been huge Trump cheerleaders and donors.

Morgan turned to Las Vegas:

But what about the Las Vegas shooter, who bought 55 guns legally in the year prior to his rampage and rained bullets down on 20,000 innocents? Why has nothing been done to stop somebody doing that again?

‘Well, we do have gun control laws and this sick person – he was a sicko. I mean that’s the big problem – they’re sick people. If he didn’t have a gun, he would have had a bomb, or would have something else.’

‘But he had 55 guns,’ I said.

‘The point is, he would have had 55 bombs,’ replied the President. ‘He would have had 55 of something else.’

‘Why can’t you make it more difficult for him?’

‘You know, we can go around this argument. I’m a Second Amendment person. I think you need it for security.

‘But again, you’ve had so many attacks, where there was only a gun – a bad person’s gun – going in this direction and if you had one on the other side. ‘In fact, that’s a very big example. And if they had the bullets going in the opposite direction, you would have saved a lot of lives.’

“Confused?” Morgan concluded. “Allow me to translate:  President Trump’s answer to what happened in Vegas is for everyone in that 20,000 crowd to be armed with a gun too so they could shoot at the man shooting at them. And tragically, the majority of Americans agree with him.”

NCRM will likely publish additional content on the president’s interview once it airs on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas

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During a rally-style appearance before uniformed U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday, President Donald Trump—serving as their Commander-in-Chief—floated the idea of a “fourth” term and falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election he lost. The appearance drew swift criticism for blurring the line between military service and political theater.

“As you know, we won three elections, okay?” Trump told the largely silent troops (video below). “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know—I’ll have to think about that.”

“You saw the new, the new hat. The hottest hat is, it says, ‘Trump 2028: We’re driving the left crazy.'”

“When you see that. We didn’t need that hat, but, uh, it was it’s been an amazing period of time,” he concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

Noting that Trump was speaking “at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East,” CNN reported that the President “thanked the U.S. troops for political support.”

“There’s – nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody,” Trump said. “So, I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much.”

CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta, who has reported extensively on the military, wrote: “If this was a rally, the president’s remarks would be fine. But in front of service members who are expected to be apolitical, many Defense Department officials would find these remarks inappropriate.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein observed: “Treating the troops like they’re at a campaign rally and sowing doubt about the past and future of American elections — all in one soundbite.”

Democratic pollster and strategist Luke Martin called it “especially jarring to see Trump flirting with blowing a hole in the Constitution in front of an entire crowd of people who literally swore an oath to protect it with their life.”

Independent journalist Mike Rothschild noted: “Making a statement like this in front of active duty troops would have generated months of scandal, hearings, and resignations in years gone by. Now it’s just another Thursday with the Mad King.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

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Walmart has issued a stark warning about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, cautioning that their “magnitude” will directly lead to higher prices for consumers. The nation’s largest retailer made clear it will have no choice but to pass on the increased costs. President Trump, by contrast, recently claimed that Chinese manufacturers—key suppliers for Walmart and many other retailers—would probably “eat” the tariffs.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a press release, according to Yahoo Finance.

Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC, “we’re wired to keep prices low for customers, but the level of tariffs that have been proposed is pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are going to feel some of that.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

“We’ve not seen a period where you’ve had prices go up this high, this quickly,” he continued (video below). “We’re well equipped and experienced in dealing with elasticities or price increases that are going up 2 or 3 percent, but not 30 percent.”

Critics took the opportunity to blast President Trump’s tariffs.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Walmart’s warning a “canary in the coal mine for the devastation Trump’s tariffs will have on Main Street,” according to The Washington Post.

“If a retailer as big as Walmart can’t escape the pain of tariffs, what chance [do] small businesses have?” he asked.

Leader Schumer called on retailers to post how much tariffs increase the cost of each product.

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“Walmart’s announcement is a glaring reminder that even after supposedly backtracking on some of his tariffs, significant damage will not go away,” he added in a floor speech. “The chaos unleashed is eating away at retail, restaurants, small businesses, and middle class families wallets. It is still estimated these tariffs will cost thousands of dollars for each family each year.”

Cato Institute Vice President of General Economics Scott Lincicome served up this warning: “Buckle up.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

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A massive banner of President Donald Trump is now hanging from the outside of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s building in Washington, D.C., opposite a banner of President Abraham Lincoln. Several critics are suggesting the hanging is fascist or authoritarian, with some saying it is giving off North Korea vibes.

“Looming down from the pillared front of the neo-classical facade is an enormous, brooding picture of President Donald Trump, adapted from his official presidential portrait,” The Independent reported. “The picture of Trump is reminiscent of portraits of leaders hanging from public buildings, often seen in dictatorships, monarchies, and in descriptions in George Orwell’s 1984 of ‘Big Brother.'”

Progressive nonprofit People For the American Way posted a photo of the USDA building with the Trump banner, also saying it is “echoing authoritarian dictatorships.”

“This is deeply fascist,” observed Democracy advocate, Army combat vet, and podcaster Fred Wellman.

READ MORE: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea,” podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen noted.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted photos of the banners being installed, while suggesting that President Trump’s policies have been good for farmers — a controversial opinion given his tariff and trade wars, and program cuts.

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote: “Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed.”

Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is “going to go full Putin.”

“Welcome to North America’s North Korea!” exclaimed Russell Drew, a self-described amateur historian and political junkie.

See the social media posts above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image: Public Domain photo via Wikimedia

 

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