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StringerBell said:




SMDH...
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I hope trump shows up to 4th of july dressed like this...

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talkingpointsmemo.com

As NRA Implodes, Team Trump Worries That It Will Lose Turnout

As the NRA implodes under a heap of scandal, President Donald Trump's campaign staff and allies worry that the reelection effort will suffer without the gun group's impressive reach and turnout…
talkingpointsmemo.com

As NRA Implodes, Team Trump Worries That It Will Lose Crucial Turnout Boost

As the NRA implodes under a heap of scandal, President Donald Trump’s campaign staff and allies worry that the reelection effort will suffer without the gun group’s impressive reach and turnout abilities.

According to Politico, team Trump is afraid that the hobbled organization will be unable to mobilize its millions of members, especially in Rust Belt states.

The NRA, weakened by internal fighting, ousters and investigations, is being roiled by turmoil at the same time that the Koch network and the Chamber of Commerce have taken a step back from their once robust role in the election of conservatives.

“No organization has been more important to conservative voter education and engagement than the NRA. We all hope they’re able to mount the kind of effort in the 2020 cycle they have in the past,” Gregg Keller, a former American Conservative Union executive director, told Politico. “But in case they can’t, given their current situation, I hope they’re being forthright about that within the movement so others can pick up the slack.”

“The situation has folks nervous.”
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talkingpointsmemo.com

Fireworks Companies Fueling Trump’s July 4 Oppose His Tariffs

His industry group’s letter opposing tariffs, Fireworks by Grucci CEO Phil Grucci told TPM, “has absolutely nothing to do” with the donated July 4 show.
talkingpointsmemo.com

Fireworks Industry Donated To Trump’s July 4 As It Fought His Tariff Threats

The two companies donating explosives and labor to President Donald Trump’s VIP-ridden July Fourth Spectacular are giants in the business: Fireworks by Grucci, known for design and production, holds Guinness records for largest aerial fireworks shell and largest fireworks display. And Phantom Fireworks, a supplier, is represented on store shelves in 47 states every Independence Day, according to its website.



Both companies also have a problem: Trump’s tariffs threats. Their donations for the July 4 show came as their industry is fighting to prevent Trump from following through on one threat in particular.

In Trump’s ongoing trade war with China, he’s so far held off on a threatened 25% tariff on a long list of imported Chinese goods that includes fireworks. China supplies the vast majority of fireworks used in the United States.

Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan, who’s donating a half-million dollars of fireworks for the show, visited the White House in late May to argue against the tariffs. He told local Youngstown, Ohio outlet The Vindicator that the meetings came at the White House’s request. He also told the paper he’d personally spoken to the President as well as other “high-level officials.” The meeting came around the same time Trump’s July 4 show was taking shape.

Zoldan told TPM he serves on the board of the American Pyrotechnics Association with Fireworks by Grucci CEO Phil Grucci, who also serves as the group’s treasurer according to its website.

A recent letter dated June 14 from APA executive director Julie L. Heckman asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer to remove consumer and professional fireworks from the list of proposed tariff targets.

“These products … are critical not only to the livelihood of the small family businesses who comprise the APA membership, but to millions of families and thousands of municipalities across our great Nation celebrating our Independence Day,” Heckman wrote.

Both Zoldan and Grucci, in phone calls with TPM Tuesday, denied that they hoped for anything in return for their donated fireworks show, which Zoldan estimated would go for $1.2-1.3 million if he and Grucci had done it for a profit.

“There’s absolutely nothing that we have done, or are expecting the administration or White House to do for us,” Zoldan said. “Anybody that knows me knows that I am politically active. Hillary Clinton has been to my house. Joe Biden’s been to my house. Nancy Pelosi’s been to my house. And many Republicans have been to my house. So I do things on both sides of the aisle and I stay friends on both sides of the aisle.”

The June APA letter opposing tariffs, Grucci said, “has absolutely nothing to do with our participation in this event.”

“It was far from our minds and it still is far from our minds,” he added. Implications otherwise, he said, are “kind of insulting.”

Both men identified Gregory Zerzan as the Interior Department lawyer they worked with on the ethics clearance surrounding the large donation. The director of DOI’s Ethics Office and its designated agency ethics official, Scott De La Vega, did not respond to interview requests.
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