President Donald Trump met with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to discuss gun control policy Thursday, though the President is still hesitating to fully commit to any of the measures.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the meeting lasted for about a half hour and touched on proposals like expanded background checks and red flag laws.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), fully abdicating the autonomy of the legislative branch, has already pledged not to put any proposals on the floor until he’s assured of Trump’s support.
Trump tends to be initially open to gun control policies in the immediate wake of a mass shooting, but is persuaded to turn against the notion by the NRA or fear that he’ll anger his base.
I want the headline that pairs “commitment” with “involuntary”.
Puh-leeeze, report this sorta thing accurately.
All by himself, Trump defines what is and is not politically possible for Republicans.
He has more power over Republicans in Congress than any President in history has ever had over their party. More than LBJ or FDR ever had over Democrats by several orders of magnitude.
So legislative questions about gun legislation are a direct, unequivocal test of Trump’s political courage and even (yeah, I’m going there) convictions.
Those are facts. They should be in every piece of reporting on the subject.
The framing should be a test of Trump’s political manhood. If he’s unwilling to stand up to the NRA (much less his “base”), that’s not because he agrees with them.
It’s because he’s chickenshit.
Say so.
Delay, delay, delay until the next gun massacre, rinse and repeat.
Nothing in US politics has ever been so predictable.
There are very few songs in which every word is always true: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ruVXRe68o
Manchin and Trump negotiating.
Oh, yeah. That’s going to solve the problem.
I am sure they will end up putting forward a comprehensive plan to make it illegal to sell ammunition from vending machines in public bathrooms. That’ll stop all those mass shootings!
Thank goodness I can finally breathe a sigh of relief!