- President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., responded to Tuesday's shooting at YouTube HQ by defending the NRA and attacking the media.
- The NRA is a target for gun-control advocates in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Parkland Florida and the resulting March For Our Lives movement.
- As president, Trump has also questioned the role of the NRA in politics, and pushed for gun reform.
- He has floated a ban on bump-stocks, or accessories to rifles that essentially render them automatic.
President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., responded to Tuesday's multiple shooting at YouTube's headuqarters by defending the National Rifle Association and attacking the media.
Authorities say the shooting was carried out by Nasim Aghdam, an Iranian-born, 39-year-old vegan, animal rights activist and aspiring social media star.
The attack came amid a wide reckoning on gun violence in the US, which Trump Jr. quickly commented on.
After Instagram and YouTube blocked Aghdam's accounts, Trump Jr. speculated on how things might be different if the shooter were a member of the National Rifle Association.
"You think there’s any chance whatsoever that a mass shooters hateful Instagram and YouTube channels would be pulled immediately if they were NRA members as opposed to liberal Vegan PETA activists? Asking for a few million friends in the @NRA" Trump Jr. tweeted.
Responding to a tweet suggesting that pundits may try to blame the YouTube shooting on "right-wing gun nuts," Trump Jr. tweeted "They will find a way. Just wait."
"I look forward to the whole PETA has more mass shooters than the NRA conversations. I’m sure they will cover that... right?" Donald Trump Jr. continued in a dig at the media.
A review of mass shootings in the US by Business Insider could find no record of an NRA member being the culprit or main suspect. The NRA does not publish its membership numbers but has said at various times that it has five million members. The organization takes in about $360 million a year in membership dues and other income.
The NRA works as a powerful gun lobby in Washington, and has found itself the target of the March For Our Lives figureheads and teenagers who survived the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Major media outlets like CNN have given coverage to the Parkland students who have likened support for the NRA to support for killing kids, and claimed that US politicians are the "b----" of the gun lobby.
As president, Trump has also questioned the role of the NRA in politics, and pushed for gun reform, including a ban on bump-stocks, or accessories to rifles that essentially render them automatic.
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