Randy Kozuch, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm, extended the organization’s presidential endorsement to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on Saturday.
The endorsement was expected, as the NRA had previously backed Trump in 2016 and 2020. Kozuch announced the endorsement while introducing Trump at the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Dallas.
Trump expressed gratitude to Kozuch before addressing the crowd and described gun owners as a “rebellious bunch.” He urged them to vote in 2024, saying, “Let’s be rebellious and vote this time, OK?”
Trump’s speech mirrored a traditional campaign rally but included a brief discussion on the Second Amendment, which he claimed was “under siege.” He assured the audience that under his watch, the Second Amendment would remain intact for safety reasons, stating, “We need it for safety because the bad guys are not giving up their guns.”
He cautioned that President Joe Biden’s potential re-election would threaten gun ownership, pointing to Biden’s “40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
Trump also commented on independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who once called the NRA a “terror group” following the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“He calls you a terrorist group,” Trump said. “Can’t vote for him. Somebody said, well, you know, they like his policy on vaccine. The other day, he said ‘No, no,’ he’ll go for the vaccine. He’s got no policy on anything. He’s radical left. He always has been. His family is angry at him because he’s doing this.”
Earlier in the month, Kennedy had challenged Trump to a debate at the upcoming Libertarian National Convention in Washington, where both candidates are scheduled to speak.
Trump and Biden are set to face off in a debate on June 27, hosted by CNN in Atlanta.
