Former President Donald Trump warned gun owners not to back independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy this weekend during an event of the National Rifle Association in Dallas, Texas. The former president cited Kennedy’s public statements about the group and called him a part of the political far left.
Trump cited a 2018 statement by Kennedy that the NRA is a “terrorist organization.”
Trump said that Kennedy was a member of the “radical left.” “Don’t think about it. Don’t waste your vote,” he said.
The former president added that the country needs a “conservative person with common sense. This guy is radical left who destroyed New York.”
“But RFK Jr. calls you a terrorist group. You know, he calls you a terrorist group,” he said. The former president said that NRA members “can’t vote for him.”
“You know, somebody said, well, they like his policy on vaccines the other day. He said, no, no, he’ll go for the vaccine,” Trump said. “He’s nice.”
“He’s got no policy or anything. He’s radical left. He always has been,” added Trump.
Trump made the comments after stating that many gun owners don’t vote. He asked the crowd to convince gun owners they knew to come out to vote. He speculated that this may be because gun owners are “rebellious people.”
RFK Jr. is a RADICAL LEFTIST. pic.twitter.com/tORrXZ1uo6
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 18, 2024
“If gun owners would vote, we would swamp them at levels that nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said. “So, I think you’re a rebellious bunch. So let’s be rebellious and vote this time.”
The former president received the endorsement of the group at the event.
Both the Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to bar Kennedy from the upcoming June and September debates between the major party candidates. Kennedy requested access to the first debate, which will be moderated by CNN.
The most recent comments were not the first time the former president criticized Kennedy. Trump warned potential supporters not to back the candidate who sought the 2024 Democratic Party nomination for president, citing his history as an environmental activist.
