March 28, 2025

With Florida Shooting Survivors, N.R.A. Spokeswoman Holds Back. With Conservatives, It’s a Different Story.

“As usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain,” he said.

The remarks came one day after Ms. Loesch and Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, were heavily jeered at a CNN town hall-style meeting that was attended by many of the families affected by last week’s school shooting. There, Ms. Loesch didn’t change the substance of her arguments or make concessions, but she resisted many of her common lines of attack.

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“I don’t believe that this insane monster should have ever been able to obtain a firearm, ever,” she said. “I do not think that he should have gotten his hands on any kind of weapon. That’s No. 1.”

She spoke in a somewhat measured tone and praised the students for using their voices. She said that the system for background checks was “flawed” (though the N.R.A. opposes their expansion).

The crowd, which overwhelmingly supported gun control, chanted “shame on you” as she left the stage.

On Thursday, Ms. Loesch said she had needed a security detail to leave the event.

“There were people rushing the stage and screaming, ‘Burn her,’” she said.

A CNN spokesman said that its security personnel accompanied all the speakers, including Ms. Loesch, from the stage, and that Ms. Loesch also had her own private security. But he did not say whether she had been threatened.

The N.R.A. criticizing the media is nothing new, but some journalists chafed at the idea that they were emotionally untouched by the deaths of children.

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Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/business/media/dana-loesch-nra-cpac.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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