RUSH: President Trump is amidst a tremendous amount of support and adulation and adoration at the NRA convention in Indianapolis. They love him there. I want you to stop and think about something. Think about the — what would it be? — gumption that it takes for a politician to go to the NRA convention these days and talk ’em up and to support them and to give ’em a bunch of rah-rahs and to stand up for what they believe. There aren’t a whole lot of politicians who have the guts to do this today.
Now, Trump is a class by himself in terms of fearlessness. He would go anyway. But, I mean, just to illustrate that point. You know, the Drive-By Media, the left wing of the Democrat Party — the whole of the Democrat Party — there is this never-ending assault on the concept of gun ownership. There’s a never-ending assault on the sanctity of Second Amendment, and there are constant pressure points. I mean, the media and the Democrats are constantly berating people over guns, over support for the Second Amendment.
And it’s almost getting to the point where somebody says, “We gotta pull down a statue of Kate Smith because she sang a song back in the thirties,” and nobody’s got the guts to stand up to it. We don’t even have anybody on TV that’s unequivocal about things. Everybody that goes on TV and says, “Well, I can see that point of view but, on the other hand, you must consider the other side.” This is what’s considered intellectual these days, is not having an opinion on something, being an equivocator, equivocating. “What do you think about the Mueller report?”
“Well, on the one hand, I can see the importance. Yes, we needed to get to the bottom of the Russians colluding in our elections. On the other hand, I — I — I can see that people might think there was a little overkill.” That is what passes for intellectualism. That’s what passes for having an open mind. “What do you think about guns?” “Well, I understand the need. People want to go hunting.” Wait a minute. The Second Amendment doesn’t give anybody the right to go hunting. Find the word “hunting” in the Constitution. It’s not in there.
When did the Second Amendment start getting attached to hunting? Well, we all know the answer to that. “Well, I can see the importance of maintaining the right to bear arms to go hunting. We all have to eat. We have to have sports. But I don’t really think we could suggest here that having the right to bear arms really means that anybody who wants a gun can have a gun.” So this equivocation… This is what people get on TV all the time, this is what people get from politicians all the time: Equivocation.
Trump does not equivocate! He loves the Second Amendment. He supports the Second Amendment. He’s telling the NRA that nobody is gonna get rid of the Second Amendment as long as he is around. He doesn’t equivocate. Most people wouldn’t have… Most politicians wouldn’t have the gumption to go speak to the NRA — and positively. They couldn’t take the media fallout, the media criticism in any way. But to actually go to Indianapolis, to stand up for one of the fundamental inalienable rights — the one right, in fact, that specifically states “shall not be infringed.”
(stammering) “Well, you know, I — I understand the founders, and, uh, things were different then. Um, uhhh, muskets, uh, had to reload after every shot. Uh, but the founders certainly didn’t intend, uh, for people to have AK-47 and to be going out, uh, and — and — and — and shooting deer and hunting.” So this equivocation’s what people get on TV. This is considered expert analysis and commentary, and Donald Trump doesn’t equivocate — and this is another reason they hate him. This is why they think (impression), “He’s bull in a china shop, ’cause he’s not urbane, and he’s not sensitive, and he doesn’t consider both sides of the issue. He just plows straight ahead.”
This is the way normal people used to be.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Donald Trump on a roll at the NRA convention. As I say, we’re rolling on it, and we’ll have audio sound bites in due course. He just went on a great riff about how the socialists and the far-left Democrats want to destroy everything we’ve done after running through a sizable list of economic and political achievements that have taken place in just the first two-years.
You know, he did something else. These are the little things that he does that nobody in the media even hears. They don’t even notice. And neither do Democrats or Republicans, for that matter, particularly from the political consultancy class. Just like during the campaign at all the Trump rallies they never, ever saw those moments of Trump humility. They don’t even think that Trump knows how to be humble. So they never see it, they miss it when it happens.
But he just, in a passing reference to the 2016 campaign and his first night in the White House and Melania’s birthday today and the upcoming 2020 campaign, he described his first night in the White House and how in awe he was walking through it where so many great people have lived and worked, so many great things have been accomplished.
That little reverence, that little reference is something that will relate to everybody paying attention, because it’s something that everybody — if you ever think about being president, we all do, we all think about it in a fleeting moment, maybe an hour or two, whatever, we all think about what we would do if we were president. And in the time that we have those thoughts, we also include living in the White House.
And to the vast majority of us, living in the White House would be one of the greatest honors, one of the best aspects of being president. And the opportunity to walk through the place and have somebody explain everything there is to know about it, well, that’s what he just did, in a sentence or two. He just said all that.
And I guarantee you that resonates, it relates to people in ways that elitists, inside-the-Beltway people do not even understand. That’s so beneath them. Their minds don’t even think about the honor that it would be to be in the White House as president or the opportunity to soak up and learn all that history. To them it’s just the place you go when you run things.
I’m not saying anything other than, like typical New Yorkers, they don’t spend a lot of time going to Broadway because they can any time they want. So they take it for granted. It’s there every day. Yankee game every day during the summer, whatever New York offers, it’s there every day. Residents do much less of the tourist stuff than the tourists do, obviously.
And the truth be known, the Broadway theater business is populated and made possible by tourists. New Yorkers are not the primary attendees there because they can do it any night, so they keep putting it off. Same thing with people in Washington, White House. It’s part of the neighborhood, it’s no big deal. They take it for granted. It’s not someplace you can go every day like you can the theater, but you get my point here.
Trump’s reference to his first night there and how in awe of it he was, it’s these little things that anybody listening to him, anybody in his audience hear, that convey humility. That also convey that he’s one of them, that he thinks like they do, that he appreciates the same things they do, that he holds in great reverence the same things that they do.
And I guarantee you, there isn’t a soul, maybe in the NRA audience some picked it up, but I guarantee you nobody in the media, if anybody in the media heard it, they’re gonna laugh it, “Oh, my God. First night in the White House, oh, big deal.” They’re cynical about these things. “If that’s what you care about with the White House, you have no business living there. The White House is the seat of power. The White House is where you move your agenda.”
The White House is one of the most historic places in the world, given what has come from there, given who has lived there, given who has worked there. You can’t help but be in awe of the place every time you go. But if you go there and you’re not in awe of it, I submit to you that something is not right with you or that your values are not the same if the place is just a stop on the way.
I think these little things that he does, like thanking the audience and telling them what an honor it is to be with them, to be speaking to them, an honor it is for them to be there, these little things take 30 seconds. This comment that I’m telling you about took maybe half a minute, 35 seconds to deliver. But it hit a bull’s-eye.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This is Rollo in Houston, Texas. It’s great to have you. Hi.
CALLER: Hey, good morning, Rush. I just wanted to make a comment on your comment about Trump’s not equivocating when faced with a decision or making a statement. Something I’ve noticed talking to a lot of people is that nowadays when someone’s confronted by someone, it seems like the new catchphrase is, “I feel… I feel…” They don’t say, “I like something/I don’t like something.” It’s not black or it’s white. They say, “I feel the need to do this,” or, “I feel we should do this,” or, “I can’t respond to that.” It seems like nowadays the general public has no conviction on their beliefs, and if they do, they won’t admit it.
RUSH: Yeah, they do. They’re scared to death to say it. That’s the point.
CALLER: Yeah. Yes.
RUSH: You talk to ’em in their homes when nobody but their families are around, and they’ll tell you what they think. It’s when you bring in an outsider. “Weeeell…” Your point about “I feel” rather than “think,” has been something that’s slowly crept into the society. Some people think I’m making too fine a point. “Rush, people mean ‘think’ when they say ‘feel.’ You’re just nitpicking.” No, I’m not. There’s a big difference in feeling and thinking. Feeling can overpower thought, ’cause feeling is instinctive and thinking isn’t.
Reacting is instinctive, but thinking isn’t. Thinking takes time. Thinking is hard. It’s not taught. You know, we teach people to memorize. We teach people not to think creatively. They get in trouble when they venture outside the boundaries of the things they’re being taught. But if you say “I feel something,” it’s also more difficult to criticize somebody’s feelings. “I — I — I feel you’re going too hard on that and I feel…” The thing to say is, “I don’t care what you feel. Tell me what you think.”
But still, people are afraid to tell other people what they think because they’re afraid of the reaction. There are any number of things. People are afraid that they’re gonna offend somebody, and you know where that lives. Being afraid to offend somebody lives in the, “Gee, I wonder what they think of me” universe. If you are very concerned with what people think of you — and, by the way, a lot of people are. A lot of people, that’s how they go through life. Networking. Being one thing to one person, one thing to another.
Hiding who they really are ’cause they don’t like what they really are. So they try to find out what everybody wants from them and deliver it. That’s a networker extraordinaire, and if you’re worried about offending somebody (which, of course, I am not), you are obviously in the prison of, “Gee, I wonder what they think of me,” and if you think they think poorly of you, you don’t want that — and offending somebody? Well, that’s just gonna make them mad at you.
You don’t want to do that. So people equivocate and they dial it back and they say, “Oh, I think, in a way, I see your point maybe.” Now, on Twitter and places where you’re anonymous? Well, that’s when all the boundaries go down, and that’s where the real reprobate riffraff happen to live. When you add anonymity or even a fake identity, then you have no restrictions on what you can say to anybody and how you react. So the question is, “Is Twitter actually telling us who Americans really are?”
Do we really have a substrata of our population that is a bunch of evil devils? Do we really — and if so, what percentage? Well, we know from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press that 22% of adults use Twitter, and the vast majority of the 22% are left-wing, elite, rich liberals. Most Twitter users are young, pajama-clad, anonymous. But, anyway, when you run into somebody… I’ll just say it again: When you run into anybody that does not equivocate, it stands out.
The reaction that those people get oftentimes is, “Nobody, nobody knows that much. Nobody can be that sure of themselves. They’re faking it. They can’t possibly be that sure,” because everybody’s trained, in one way or another, to soft sell what you believe so you don’t offend anybody. The reason you don’t want to offend anybody is ’cause you don’t want any grief coming back at you.
“Oh, I don’t know. I — I see your point. I see your point. Uh, but then I… You know, I know Jonah over here, and Jonah sees five different points on every issue. So I, uh, I (sigh)… I don’t know. You may have a point. I’m still not sure myself.”
“Oh, what a great guy. Doesn’t want to offend anybody, open to everything.”
No! You’re listening to a phony who doesn’t have the guts to tell you what they think, and that is what’s passing now for intellectualism. Take a listen. If you doubt me, next time you listen on Fox News to the next think tank guy or woman whatever, listen to the way they talk. (impression) “Yes, uhhhh, on the one hand I can see your, ummm, point. (muttering) I see your point. But, uh… But, uh… But, uh… But, uh, have you considered the alternative? The alternative might not be palatable but it could nevertheless…”
“Man, is that person smart. Holy cow. I wish I had that person’s brain.”
No, you don’t.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
This is Trump at the NRA convention. You know what he’s doing right now? I don’t know if it’s still going on. He brought people up on the stage whose lives had been changed and saved because of guns. Really, really powerful stories. But here is the reference that I was talking about, the first night in the White House, he and Melania, and how in awe he is of where he is.
RUSH: I’m gonna tell you, that little reference, he was in awe of where he was, that alone exemplifies Trump’s humility. He does not think he’s bigger than the White House. He does not think that the White House was meant for him. It’s the exact opposite of what the Washington establishment and these brain-dead media critics think of Donald Trump.
That was humility, that was the ability to relate. Everybody in this country, whether they were elected president or not, if you happen to end up in the White House and not part of a tour and so forth, and had the opportunity, you would be in awe of it too. And you would want to experience as much of it as you could. And the more American history you knew, the more in awe you would be. And he was simply conveying that how he, too, was in awe.
And let me tell you something, the Obamas did not feel that way. Let me just tell you right now, the Obamas didn’t feel that way. To them the White House housed a lot of bad people. They are liberals. They are leftists. In their view, America is a flawed and mean and unjust place, and a lot of the people who were in charge of those mean policies and unjust days lived in that White House. They didn’t have the same reverence.
And it’s not just the Obamas. A whole bunch of these woke Democrats, these liberals running for the presidency now are not gonna have that kind of reverence for the White House. They’re certainly not gonna hold it in awe. To them it is a seat of racism and bigotry and sexism and this is what sets them apart. This is why I believe Trump’s slogan Make America Great Again, why it works.
Most of the people in this country want to elect somebody who loves it, want to elect somebody who holds it in great respect and in great regard. And doesn’t think that he or she is bigger than the government or the country or even the White House.
So let’s play a couple more here of Trump at the NRA so you can see that it was filled with energy. It was a typical Trump speech except he unloaded on the Democrats while he was mentioning his own achievements. We got one, two, three, four more here. We’ll keep going here ’til I’m satisfied. Here’s the first.
THE PRESIDENT: Our nation is greater today than it has ever been. Stronger, richer, we’re doing better than ever before. We are great Americans. You’re doing a great job.
CROWD: (applause)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. We believe in the rule of law, and we will always protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. (applause) And there are some people that are running right now, I don’t think they have that number one on their list. We believe that children should be taught to love our country, honor our history, and always respect our great American flag.
CROWD: (applause)
RUSH: Right on. Right on, right on, right on. Hear that applause? It’s the next bite. Stay in order here.
CROWD: (applause)
THE PRESIDENT: We have the right to self-defense and the right to protect your family, your community, and your loved ones. We believe in the wisdom of our founders and we believe in freedom and liberty and the right to keep and bear arms.
CROWD: (applause)
CROWD: (applause)
THE PRESIDENT: We know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of American life. And above all else, we know this: In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.
CROWD: (cheers)
RUSH: Right on. Right on, right on. Okay, now… So you hear it. It’s the usual… Not typical, but has many ingredients of a Trump stump speech. But now here he enters into the aspect of bringing the Democrats into it and ripping them.
THE PRESIDENT: They tried for a coup. Didn’t work out so well.
CROWD: (cheers and applause)
THE PRESIDENT: And I didn’t need a gun for that one, did I?
CROWD: (laughing and applause)
THE PRESIDENT: All was taking place at the highest levels in Washington, D.C. You’ve been watching, you’ve been seeing, you’ve been looking at things that you wouldn’t have believed possible in our country. Corruption at the highest level, a disgrace. Spying, surveillance, trying for an overthrow — and we caught ’em. We caught ’em.
RUSH: And he then just continued to rip the Democrats to shreds…
THE PRESIDENT: America’s future has never been brighter, and yet Democrats have never been angrier, especially now that their collusion delusion has been exposed to the world as a complete and total fraud.
CROWD: (wild cheering)
THE PRESIDENT: It’s been the greatest political hoax ever in our country. Democrats are obsessed with hoaxes, delusions, and witch hunts. It’s what they’re obsessed with. That’s what they want to do, and we can play the game just as well or better than they do.
CROWD: (applause)
RUSH: Yeah, right on. Okay.
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