RUSH: Donald Trump, another walk by-the-media impromptu presser today. He was on the way to the helicopter to catch the big jet on the way to the Hamptons for the two big fundraisers totaling $11 million that the Drive-By Media and the Democrats are trying to shame him not to attend. He said, screw you, I’m going.

The people hosting the fundraisers the Democrats tried to shame into canceling them. They said, screw you, we’re holding them. It’s also the beginning of a vacation period for Trump as much as he ever is actually on vacation. And the left-wing hate and the left-wing insanity — folks, you know, now you got people dressing up as military people armed to the teeth walking into a Walmart not intending to shoot anything up, just to get noticed now.

And you’ve got Democrats showing up at Republican town halls acting like Republican voters, Trump voters, threatening the Republican member of Congress to disband the NRA, to disavow the NRA and so forth. And, you know, I don’t know if it’s become apparent to everybody yet, but they’re not going away. And you cannot satisfy them. You cannot make them happy. You cannot compromise with them.

Like they’re talking about gun control. Don’t give them a thing! It’s not gonna buy us anything! You know, Trump risks something here. We got sound bites of his little presser today, and we’ve learned to ignore what Trump says to the media and instead wait for the action that follows or yet another statement. But Trump is making it appear that he’s got some negotiating room with the left on gun control things.

I know this. I know that there are people in the West Wing, in the Trump administration, urging him to do it, swamp-dwelling Republicans. Just like there were people in the George H. W. Bush West Wing, “You’ve gotta compromise on that tax cut promise you made. You gotta do it! You gotta raise taxes, you gotta give the left something.” George H. W. Bush who had said “Read my lips: No new taxes” raised taxes. And any kind of a deal with the Democrats on guns is going to risk the same fate happening to Trump.

Now, don’t get alarmed. I’m not suggesting that Trump’s moving in this direction. I’m telling you that there are people around him pushing him into it. Trump has not cleaned everybody out of there. And even if he has, I guarantee you that if you live in Washington, D.C., you live and die by the fear of the Democrats and the media and trying to do anything about it.

And people make the ongoing mistake — I’ve been watching this mistake made for 30 years — thinking that you can calm them down, make them go away, make them like you, make them drop the issue, even, if you just compromise with ’em. It never works because they’re never happy because their objective, as is now plain as day, is wiping us out. Plain as day. There is no desire for peaceful coexistence or compromise. Their objective is to wear you out and to wipe us out. No two ways about it.

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RUSH: Now, up next were some comments on the NRA. Now, Trump loves the NRA, and the NRA loves him. But there is a potential pitfall lurking ahead as the left continues to ramp up its pressure in the aftermath of these shootings. There isn’t a person in the world who thinks that new laws are gonna change or end the shootings, including the people who want to take your guns away. Nobody thinks that. That’s just what they want you to believe they think. Everybody knows we have enough laws on the books.

Every one of these shooters already violated some law — including murder! You don’t need any more laws. There’s not a single new law that would change anything. The only thing a new law would do is it would drive a wedge between Trump and his voters and the NRA. ‘Cause make no mistake, they want your guns. They want every gun you’ve got as quickly as they can get it. They want guns out of your hands. When the movie The Hunt becomes real, they don’t want you to have a way of firing back.

They don’t want you to have the freedoms that are codified in the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution. This is not an exaggeration. This is who they are. And the pressure that is always on Republican politicians to bend and flex and to compromise and to somehow show that we’re not racists, that we’re not nationalists, that we’re not uncaring about people getting shot? This is this kind of thing that leads and has led in the past to Republicans making stupid deals.

Talk about stupid! These stupid compromise deals with the left, with the Democrat Party on things they claim are of great importance to them. And it’s always done never so solve the issue. There isn’t a person in the world who believes that any gun control compromise is gonna fix this. What they’re trying to do on our side is (sobbing), “Limit the criticism! Stop saying these things about us. We want to show the American people we’re not what you say.” That’s been going on my whole life too.

Republicans feeling compelled to do things and say things so that the people of America will see the media and the Democrats are wrong. How has that worked out for anybody? The Democrats are still saying it no matter how much they’ve been given. They will continue to say it no matter how much they give them. Folks, if they succeed… Just to give you an analogy, an example, if they ever succeeded in eliminating the Second Amendment, do you think they would go away?

Nope. Then they’d go for the First Amendment, if it still was in place. And then after those, they would go for every other codification of freedom until there isn’t any more. That’s what they’re truly opposed to is freedom and all the manifestations of it. Here’s Trump on the NRA, and you’ll hear him say he spoke to Mitch, he spoke to senators, and they’re gonna take a hard line on the Second Amendment.

THE PRESIDENT: I have a great relationship with the NRA. I have a lot of respect for the people at the NRA. And I have already spoken to them on numerous occasions. And, frankly, we need intelligent background checks, okay? This isn’t a question of NRA, Republican, or Democrat. I spoke to Mitch McConnell yesterday. He’s totally on board. We don’t want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people…

We don’t want guns in the hands of the wrong people. I spoke yesterday to Nancy Pelosi. We had a great talk. I spoke to Chuck Schumer. We had a great talk. We have tremendous support for really common-sense, sensible, important background checks. Look, the NRA has over the years taken a very, very tough stance on everything — and I understand it. You know, it’s a slippery slope. They think you approve one thing and that leads to a lot of bad things. I don’t agree with that.

RUSH: Now, I’m just gonna tell you that your basic Trump voter doesn’t want Trump talking to Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer about this. They are not the people to talk to about guns, background checks, intelligent background checks. We don’t want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people having guns in their hands. Well, who gets to sit there and determine who’s insane and who isn’t?

So I’m gonna tell you, this is a potential red flag, and I just want to remind everybody, “Read my lips: No new taxes.” George H. W. Bush thought that he was demonstrating to Americans that he had compassion. The media was out there, Democrats were talking about what a cold-hearted guy he was, people were going hungry because of these tax cuts, Bush needed to raise taxes, blah, blah.

And finally, because he thought he could work with Tom Foley, because he thought he could make a deal with Tom Foley. He didn’t trust George Mitchell in the Senate, but he loved Foley. He thought they could make a deal. And he never recovered from it. Never recovered from it and it’s probably one of the key reasons he did not get reelected in 1992. Same kind of potential pitiful is out there again awaiting Trump.

And again, not to be redundant, but I think his instincts are fine, but I’m telling you there have got to be, because of the law of averages, there are people in the White House who are career Washington people who live and think as swamp dwellers do who believe that they can sue the Democrats for peace or they need to do something to show the American people that they’re not gun crazy racists or what have you.

And so they’ll want Trump to make some kind of deal. I guarantee you he’s being pushed. I don’t know who these people are. Don’t misunderstand. I just know that they’re there. I mean, there are people in the Trump White House who are trying to sabotage his policies in a lot of different places.

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RUSH: Now, I probably don’t have to do this, but I’m gonna explain to you why I think this Amendment II, gun control thing is so crucial. It’s an issue the Democrats have lost totally. Remember us marveling in 2008, 2012, 2016, the Democrats laying off of gun control. Remember John Kerry going (imitating Kerry), “Is this where I get me a huntin’ license?”

And Hillary Clinton putting on the fatigues like she’s gonna go out there and hunt sharks in Iowa, whatever she thought she was gonna do. They have totally lost the issue of gun control. It is polling way, way against them. Then these shootings happen and guess what happens? The left gets reenergized about it.

Now, I had some people email me, “Rush, what do you mean people don’t want to see Trump talking to Pelosi and Schumer? That’s exactly how Washington ought to work. Real people want to see Trump talking with ’em.” Wait just a minute. We got an election coming up in 2020. If Donald Trump loses his base, all the rest of this is academic.

And Donald Trump’s base — correct me if I’m wrong — we’ll find out here, I guess, in a minute — Donald Trump’s base is not cool with Pelosi and Schumer having a say-so about the Second Amendment, when they did not win the election.

Now, we say this with caveats because Trump does this a lot. Appears to bring ’em in — he’s done this with Dianne Feinstein on a number of things, and then the next meeting or a week later, he drops the hammer on ’em. So I’m not raising the panic flag here yet, folks. I’m just telling you, it’s a pitfall out there, potential.

Now, let’s go to the phones. Justin in Lexington, Kentucky. Great to have you. You’re up first today. Hi.

CALLER: Hello, Rush. Third-time caller. Mega dittos to you, sir.

RUSH: Thank you. Great to have you here.

CALLER: I am about as true a Trump fan as there can be. I own a framed portrait of the man in my house. I’ve got a two foot by three foot poster on the wall, three MAGA hats, two Witch Hunt T-shirts I’ve bought. I love Donald Trump as president. My support for him hasn’t gone anywhere yet, and it won’t.

I don’t care what he says or how he says it. What I care about is what he does. And the vast majority of what he does I wholeheartedly support. But if he does anything in the way of signing into law these red flag laws or anything that in my mind puts the right of self-defense in the hands of the elites only then I’m just gonna throw up my hands at the whole damn situation, buy my ranch out in Wyoming —

RUSH: Wait a minute. Let me ask you to define your terms. What is putting self-defense in the hands of the elites only? Is that how you see red flag laws?

CALLER: Anything that gets in the way of me going out and buying my own weapon of choice.

RUSH: Oh. Okay. Okay.

CALLER: The wealthy folks are never gonna get rid of their guards with their guns even if they won’t themselves deign to touch a weapon, but they’re not gonna get rid of their own self-defense —

RUSH: Oh, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely right out there. That’s exactly right. The Hollywood left is never gonna stop flying their jets to climate change meetings.

CALLER: Or even Trump himself or anybody else who can afford security guards with guns, like, they’re not gonna let themselves get shot if they go to Walmart or go to a concert or whatever. I want to be able to defend myself and my family. And if Trump does anything to stop that from happening, I’m just gonna say he’s just like the rest of them, go out in Wyoming with my dog —

RUSH: Wait a minute.

CALLER: — my guns, my girl and be done.

RUSH: Justin, Justin, hang on. What has happened, you just described yourself as almost so locked into Trump that nobody could do anything about it, and you sound like you’re on the verge here, you think he’s about ready to betray you. Where does this come from? What has happened?

CALLER: No. No. That’s not it. You’ve been exactly right the whole time. The only person who could take my support away from Trump is Trump himself.

RUSH: That’s right. That’s exactly right.

CALLER: And that’s exactly what this is about. He’s done nothing. So right now my Trump support is as solid as it has ever been. I was a Ted Cruz supporter at first. I did not vote for Trump to begin with, but I absolutely —

RUSH: Yeah, but then you found out his dad was present at the Kennedy assassination. That had to be a shock.

CALLER: Oh, right. Right. I’ve grown to love the man. I really do. George Washington and Donald Trump in my opinion are two of the greatest American presidents in history. He’s not done anything against me, as of now. I don’t care who he talks to. Great.

RUSH: I understand. But yet you’re sounding like you think that this is a legitimate possibility, that Trump could do something here that would really disappoint you.

CALLER: When was the last time that Trump ever did something according to someone else’s prediction?

RUSH: Well, yeah. Nobody’s predicting. I’m just going by what Trump — let me ask you very quickly, yes or no: Does it bother you Trump is talking about this with Pelosi and Schumer?

CALLER: No.

RUSH: Okay. All right. Fine. Then I could well be — not wrong, just miscalculating on this.

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RUSH: Here is David in Boynton Beach, Florida, just down the road here. How are you doing, David? Great to have you here.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush, I’m doing great. I’m curious if Trump passes a gun control law, if that would open any doors for a Republican to either come into a primary or run as an independent and be successful.

RUSH: Don’t think so.

CALLER: Not even —

RUSH: Are you asking me if Trump steps in it here and makes a deal with the Democrats or with anybody that would weaken the NRA and thereby weaken himself, is there another Republican who could become the Republican nominee, replacing Trump in 2020? Is that what you’re asking?

CALLER: Yeah, like basically if he separates himself from his base, if another Republican could kind of jump in and pick up on his base.

RUSH: I don’t think so.

CALLER: Obviously —

RUSH: No, because there’s a process here, and it’s called the primaries, and there aren’t gonna be any people challenging Trump. At this stage, it would be… Look, anything is possible. This is, you know, one of those things you start predicting politics, and you have to keep in mind that the least expected thing — something that you never ever think — is likely to happen. So, but I… No. I can’t see it. If that happens, that’s pretty much it.

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RUSH: And now CNN’s out there trying to stir things up. They got a chyron graphic that they’ve been running periodically, and it says, “Trump says NRA will come around on background checks.” Now, I don’t think I heard Trump say that.

JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny south Florida, it’s Open Line Friday!

RUSH: Let me check the transcript that I have here. Chuck Schumer, NRA. Slope. Thank you for. In the transcript I have Trump did not say the NRA will come around. Now, I don’t have the whole transcript. I just have the transcript of the audio sound bites that we cut, and that’s a one minute sound bite. So, you know, you get a Trump supporter that accidentally tunes in to CNN and sees that graphic up there, “Trump says NRA will come around on background checks.” We’ll track this down.

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RUSH: Okay now we’ve gone back to the Trump press conference today. Remember this thing I saw on CNN, their graphic says, “Trump says NRA will come around on background checks.” So in the transcript of the sound bites of the NRA Trump comments he made earlier, I didn’t see that. But he did make certain references here.

We’ve got two bites as he’s on the White House lawn. Remember about this. This is brilliant. Trump has canceled the daily White House press briefing. It doesn’t exist. So he’s out there — put that picture up, Brian, we got a picture for those of you watching on the Dittocam. This is what press briefings at the White House now look like.

There’s Trump outside on the way to the helicopter with the gaggle of kids in the press corps there screaming and sounding like it’s Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. But you never see them. The media has been denied face time. They’re not allowed to go to the White House pressroom and make the news about them.

So they’re never seen. They’re just heard shouting these incessant, childlike questions while the president looks calm, cool, collected, and reasonable answering them. A brilliant, brilliant move here to take the media off of TV. But, anyway, here are the two bites with Trump chatting with media on his way to the helicopter this morning.

THE PRESIDENT: I really believe that the NRA — I’ve spoken to them numerous times, they’re really good people. They’re great patriots. They love our country. They love our country so much, and frankly, I really think they’re going to get there also.

RUSH: Okay. So he still hasn’t said, “I think they’ll come around.” I think they’re gonna be there. I think they’re gonna get there. Here’s the next bite.

THE PRESIDENT: I think in the end, Wayne and the NRA will either be there or maybe will be a little bit more neutral and that would be okay, too.

RUSH: So he’s talking about background checks specifically or not so much red flags. That’s off in the weeds as of now. Specifically he was answering a question about background checks. “Well, I think in the end, Wayne and the NRA will either be there or maybe be a little bit more neutral. That would be okay too.” Now, I guarantee you that those who heard that, there’s some red flags on the way up. You start talking about how the NRA — ’cause some people are gonna read this, “Yeah, I think Wayne may compromise. Wayne may become a little bit more neutral,” Wayne LaPierre. So we’ll see.

Remember, folks, Trump is famous — remember how he made Dianne Feinstein believe, in a cabinet meeting, that he was ready to legalize comprehensive immigration reform? She was all excited. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. We were sitting there, “Oh, my God. What the hell just happened?” And then he pulled the rug out from under her later on. So we need to let time pass for actual substantive things to happen.

Back to the phones. It’s Open Line Friday. This is Donald in Plant City, Florida. Great to have you, sir. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s an honor to be on your program. I’ve been a longtime listener. And today I just wanted to bring up my opinion. First of all, I’m a Trump supporter, and when I first became a Trump supporter I said if he could only do three or five out of 10 things he promised, I’d be happy. And I just don’t see myself being pried away from supporting him for anybody that I can see anywhere in the future. That was just kind of a sideline because that came up earlier in your conversations today.

RUSH: Well, yeah, a guy called and wanted to know if Trump caved on the NRA and guns, is there some other Republican that could move in.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: I had to lower the boom on that. That’s not possible right now.

CALLER: Yes. Well, my main point today was just to bring up, you know, my opinion on what’s going on with the mass shootings that keep randomly popping up. And my opinion is that the country has just lost its moral compass. You know, hundreds of thousands of babies are aborted or killed every year —

RUSH: 1.3 million.

CALLER: Yeah. I didn’t want to exaggerate. I looked for the most recent number, but I couldn’t find it right before I called, so I was just very conservative on that number. But, anyways, and that has kind of devalued human life, you know, in the current generation ’cause the current generation, this is their reality, you know, what they see now is their reality.

My reality, having graduated from high school in the sixties was much different. I was my parents is values, and those values I see are gone. Back in the sixties there was a rock artist, made a song called Imagine all the people, and the song basically talked about no heaven, no hell, and live for today. So my last comment — and I don’t really have a solution for the problem — my last comment about that is I feel like we’re already on the slippery slope.

RUSH: Yeah, yeah. You’re talking about John Lennon of the Beatles.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: The song was Imagine. The solution was a gated community. Can you say “gated community”?

CALLER: Gated community!

RUSH: Gated…? (laughing)

CALLER: I have one other real quick thing I was gonna toss out ’cause you had brought up about that movie, The Hunt, that’s coming out.

RUSH: Oh, yeah, coming out next month, in fact. Lined up to see it already, people are, I hear.

CALLER: And my thought is, you know, what was the intention of them doing this? And, you know, you’ve got crazy people because of our society and the way it’s —

RUSH: Yeah, let me ask you a question out there about this, Donald. Okay. So the movie The Hunt comes out where conservatives are taken hostage by a bunch of elite liberals on their gigantic estate, and then they’re let loose and hunted by the elite white liberals with guns. If that movie actually exhibits and people see it and then there’s a shooting somewhere, will the left blame itself for having caused it?

CALLER: Okay. My opinion is — or my point was gonna be — I’m not so certain that the writers of this movie didn’t have the idea of inciting a crazy to go out and do something like that from either side?

RUSH: Well, you see, that’s gonna be a problem because these guys are saying, “Movies and video games aren’t responsible for this. You can’t blame us.” So they’re already on record of saying they have nothing — nothing to do with it. That is kind of a slippery slope to go down. One of our problems is that we’re always looking for ways to absolve perpetrators who commit crimes for the responsibility for them.

We’re always looking for reasons why they did it that will essentially let us excuse it. “Well, you know, abused as a child. Well, ADD. Well, not enough milk in the formula.” Whatever the excuse is, we have this tendency in our society to try to explain away why these mad people do it so that we don’t hold ’em responsible — unless the media can tie them to Republicans, and then, of course, that’s the only reason why they did it.