Trump rallies NRA to vote in midterms, slams Chicago — and thanks Kanye West

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President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Dallas, Friday, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

DALLAS — Months after the horror of the Parkland school shootings in Florida, President Donald Trump stood before cheering members of the National Rifle Association on Friday and implored them to elect more Republicans to Congress to defend gun rights.

“Your Second Amendment rights are under siege, but they will never ever be under siege as long as I am your president,” Trump told NRA members.

Taking a break from the escalating pressures of the Russia probe and the Stormy Daniels case, Trump returned to his supporters at the NRA’s annual convention, vowing to protect their Second Amendment rights, patting himself on the back, taking another shot at Chicago — and giving a shout out to Kanye West.

After touting “all-time in history record low” African American unemployment numbers, Trump thanked the Chicago-born rap and hip-hop star for praising the president last month.

“And by the way, Kanye West must have some power,” Trump told his audience. “Because you probably saw, I doubled my African American poll numbers. We went from 11 to 22 in one week. Thank you Kanye, thank you.

“When I saw the numbers. I said that must be a mistake. How can that happen? Even the pollsters thought there must be a mistake. No, we’ve come a long way.”

Last month, West tweeted out his “love” for Trump and the “dragon energy” they share.

“You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him,” West tweeted in April. “We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. ”

But the president spent most of his time Friday cataloging his accomplishments, blasting the Russian “witch hunt” and praising NRA members for their patriotism: standing for the national anthem, putting hands on hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance and respecting the flag.

President Donald Trump speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images

President Donald Trump speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images

Contending that Democrats want to “outlaw guns,” the president repeatedly urged NRA members to vote in November.

“We cannot get complacent. We have to win the midterms,” he said. “The one thing that has always stood between the American people and the elimination of our Second Amendment rights is conservatives in Congress willing to fight for those rights.”

Trump also repeated his disdain for gun control laws, singling out Chicago once again for criticism.

“We all know what’s going on in Chicago,” Trump said. “But Chicago has the toughest gun laws in our country. They’re so tough, but you know what’s happening.

“It seems like if we’re going to outlaw guns like so many people want to do — Democrats — … we are going to have to outlaw immediately all vans and all trucks, which are now the new form of death for the maniac terrorist. Right?

“They take a truck, and they run over eight people and wound 60, like what happened in New York and what just happened. It’s happening all over. So let’s ban immediately all trucks, all vans, maybe all cars. How about cars? Let’s not sell any more cars.”

The president repeatedly implored gun-rights activists to vote for Republicans in the 2018 congressional elections

“We will never give up our freedom. We will live free and we will die free,” Trump said. “We’ve got to do great in ’18.”

Activists energized by shootings at schools, churches and elsewhere are also focused on those elections.

In the aftermath of the February school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 dead and many more wounded, Trump had temporarily strayed from gun rights dogma.

During a televised gun meeting with lawmakers in late February, he wagged his finger at a Republican senator and scolded him for being “afraid of the NRA,” declaring that he would stand up to the group and finally get results in quelling gun violence. But he later backpedaled on that tough talk.

He was clearly back in the fold at the NRA’s annual convention.

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas, Friday, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas, Friday, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Trump briefly referenced the Parkland shootings in his speech, saying that he “mourned for the victims and their families” and noting that he signed a spending bill that included provisions to strengthen the federal background check system for gun purchases as well as add money to improve school safety.

He also repeated his strong support for “letting highly trained teachers carry concealed weapons.”

Trump’s speech in Dallas was his fourth consecutive appearance at the NRA’s annual convention. His gun comments were woven into a campaign-style speech that touched on the Russia probe, the 2016 campaign, his efforts in North Korea and Iran and his fight against illegal immigration.

In strikingly personal criticism of members of Congress, he decried what he said were terribly weak immigration laws, declaring, “We have laws that were written by people that truly could not love our country.”

Trump said some political advisers had told him attending the NRA convention might be controversial, but, “You know what I said? ‘Bye, bye, gotta get on the plane.’”

Trump has long enjoyed strong backing from the NRA, which spent about $30 million in support of his presidential campaign. He was introduced by Vice President Mike Pence, who pointed to his own support for gun rights and accused the news media of failing to tell “the whole story” that “firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens” make communities safer.

One of the Parkland student survivors, David Hogg, criticized Trump’s appearance in advance.

“It’s kind of hypocritical of him to go there after saying so many politicians bow to the NRA and are owned by them,” Hogg said. “It proves that his heart and his wallet are in the same place.”

President Donald Trump speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump speaks at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Back in February, Trump had praised members of the gun lobby as “great patriots” but declared “that doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything. It doesn’t make sense that I have to wait until I’m 21 to get a handgun, but I can get this weapon at 18.” He was referring to the AR-15 the Parkland shooting suspect is accused of using.

Those words rattled some Republicans in Congress and sparked hope among gun-control advocates that, unlike after previous mass shootings, tougher regulations might be enacted.

President Donald Trump gestures from the podium as as speaks at the National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum in Dallas, Friday, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

President Donald Trump gestures from the podium as as speaks at the National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum in Dallas, Friday, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

But after expressing interest in increasing the minimum age to purchase an assault weapon to 21, Trump later declared there was “not much political support” for that. He then pushed off the issue of age restrictions by assigning it to a commission.

Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot outside a grocery store during a constituent gathering in 2011, said Trump had “allowed his presidency to be hijacked by gun lobbyists and campaign dollars.” She said Trump had “ignored the pleas of young people demanding safer gun laws.”

Associated Press writer Ken Thomas in Washington and Chicago Sun-Times staff contributed to this report.

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