Trump emerged from his cave to issue a cryptic tweet after a meeting with the NRA tonight. This one begs the question, how does Trump define Good (Great)?
Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018
Scroll up in your twitter feeds for the answers. Because Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, has already provided the answer. Good (Great) to Trump is whatever makes the person sitting across from him at any given moment like him.
I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP. We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA
— Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxCap6) March 2, 2018
Cox also said after the meeting that Trump and Pence assured the NRA that they would oppose any kind of gun control measures put forth by the Democrats.
That’s hardly going to play well with most of the country, which is still reeling after the mass shooting at a Parkland, FL high school that left 17 dead on Valentine’s Day. In the wake of the tragedy, the student survivors, their parents, Democrats, and most sane Americans have been calling for immediate stricter controls on access to guns.
The 19 year-old shooter legally purchased an AR-15 rifle, despite having been reported to the area police multiple times and having documented mental health issues.
But despite the understandable clamor for tangible movement on gun control, activists face opposition from Republicans and the NRA, which is redundant to say at this point. The NRA has held fast on its position that there should be absolutely no restriction on access to guns in America, not a raising of the minimum age to purchase one, not an expansion of background checks necessary to own one.
Trump and the Vice President emerging from this closed door meeting with the NRA’s powerful lobbying arm and smiles on their faces is bad news for the rest of us.