(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump praised the National Rifle Association and its leaders on Thursday, one day after meeting with parents, teachers and students from a Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last week.
“What many people don't understand, or don't want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a Thursday morning tweet. Wayne LaPierre is the NRA's chief executive officer; Chris Cox is the group's chief lobbyist.
Several of the parents and students from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School urged the president on Wednesday to toughen gun laws. The NRA has forcefully lobbied against stricter laws on firearms.
Trump's tweet came just minutes before LaPierre took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he criticized Democrats including Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut for “politicizing” the shooting in Parkland. LaPierre said “elites” want to “eradicate all individual freedoms.”
LaPierre also called for more armed security at schools and criticized the notion of making schools “gun-free zones,” which he said are targets for potential shooters, echoing comments Trump has made.
At a CNN town hall event Tuesday, a student who survived the Stoneman Douglas shooting asked Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, whether he would pledge to stop accepting financial contributions from the NRA. When Rubio declined to make that pledge, he was jeered by the crowd.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Mike Dorning
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