NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — National Rifle Association executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre took on the media and Washington politicians in a fiery address at the Conservative Political Action Committee Thursday afternoon.
“Rather than expose government dishonesty and scandal like they used to, the media elite white-wash it all. Move on they tell us, there is nothing to see here, don’t worry about it, move on. One of America’s greatest threats is a national news media that fails to provide a level playing field for the truth.”
He lamented that the news media has turned into a ratings game that is more entertainment and sensationalism than informative journalism.
“The use deliberate spinning and purposeful use of words and language — truth be damned — to advance their own agenda. You see it everyday in this country. And here is how you know the media is lying, they still call themselves journalists,” he said. “I’ll tell you they’ve never been honest about the NRA. They hate us, just for saying out loud and sticking up for what we believe, as if we have no right.”
“They try to ridicule us into oblivion or shame us into submission,” he said, adding that their effort should be “directed right into their own make up mirrors.”
“The media’s intentional corruption of the truth is an abomination and NRA members will never, and I mean never, submit or surrender to the national media,” he said to crowd applause.
According to LaPierre, people’s views are extremely negative about politicians and the media.
“We don’t trust government because government itself is has proven unworthy of our trust. We trust ourselves and we trust what we know in our hearts to be right. We trust our freedom,” he said pointing to the right to protect one’s self and family as an essential freedom.
The crowd shouted “no!” when LaPierre asked if they trusted the government to protect them.
“We are on our own, that is a certainty,” he said, stating that, when on one’s own, the best way to stop a bad guy is a “good guy with a gun.”
LaPierre went on to note that his comments will be “sneered at” and “ridiculed as feverish fear mongering” by the people in the very industry that uses violence to entertain with television and movies to make money.
“So let them sneer, they can’t change the truth,” he said, going on to conclude that the NRA will continue to fight for their cause.