This week a grassroots super PAC dedicated to drafting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into the 2024 presidential race dropped an attack ad — its first one ever — accusing former President Donald Trump of being a “gun-grabber.”
The ad by the Never Back Down super PAC was published Thursday, a day before Trump spoke at the National Rifle Association’s Leadership Forum in Indianapolis.
Watch the ad below:
Trump promised @NRA members he’d have their back.
But when #2A rights came under attack, Trump abandoned us and sided with liberal Democrats in support of gun control. https://t.co/vvc5QAgR42 pic.twitter.com/MEvwVETiXG
— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) April 14, 2023
“Trump promised NRA members he’d have their back. But when Second Amendment rights came under attack, Trump abandoned us and stood with liberal Democrats,” the ad begins with the narrator saying.
The ad then shows clip after clip after clip of Trump agreeing with and expressing support for Democrats’ gun-control schemes such as “red flag” laws and bump stock bans.
“Half of you are so afraid of the NRA. We have to fight them every once in a while, that’s OK,” Trump says at one point in the ad.
“Some of you people are petrified of the NRA. You can’t be petrified. They have great power over you people. They have less power over me. I don’t need it. What do I need?” he says at another point in the ad.
Eventually, the ad accuses Trump of cutting and running “like a coward” and concludes by saying “Trump the gun grabber doesn’t deserve a second chance.”
The ad has prompted massive backlash from the former president’s supporters.
Look:
This ad is BS.
If you really want to get mad, wait until you see how many House and Senate Republicans vote for an Assault Weapons Ban if/when it gets to the floor…
— David Giglio (@DavidGiglioCA) April 15, 2023
So you attack Trump because he was against the NRA? Does the NRA truly stand for second amendment? I think you need to go reassess that and come back to me and did he go forward with the red flag laws? It was a trap you don’t get it
— Fed Up Warrior V1 (@fedupguy4usa) April 15, 2023
He said he supports taking guns when violent crime involved until they can be cleared. You all have nothing to go against Trump on so you twist things. Trump will be making America Great Again for all of us again soon. Although you don’t like him he won’t hold it against you
— SS NUCLEAR MAGA (@ss_scmb) April 14, 2023
The “Art of the Deal” people. ♂️ The only thing Trump ended up supporting is exactly what the @NRA asked him to support. The ATF #BumpstockBan. That “rule” should be declared unconstitutional and so should the NFA and all other gun laws that limit law abiding citizens gun rights.
— JschottZ ️ (@Jschottz1) April 15, 2023
Ahem… pic.twitter.com/8mtVSy2yCo
— ❤️RNcat❤️ (@RNcat50) April 14, 2023
One clever critic pushed back on the ad by noting that the NRA probably wouldn’t have invited him to speak at their annual conference this year if he’d truly been so bad on guns.
“The problem with this ad, is that the @NRA themselves were cheering & applauding Trump today. They wouldn’t have even invited him if the way this ad painted him was true,” the critic wrote.
Speaking of the NRA’s annual conference, Never Back Down members were reportedly there as well.
They “handed out flyers at the convention with the same messaging, calling Trump a ‘gun grabber’ who sides with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and other anti-gun rights Democrats,” according to Mediaite.
As for the former president and his speech, he sounded nothing like the Trump seen in the Never Back Down PAC’s ad.
“I was proud to be the most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president you’ve ever had in the White House. I think that’s been acknowledged, and with your support, in 2024, I will be your loyal friend and fearless champion once again as the 47th president of the United States,” he said at one point, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
Everyone came for Trump and the NRA knows it. pic.twitter.com/Rj0SurY5qT
— MAGS (@TAftermath2020) April 14, 2023
President Trump at the NRA: “I promise you this — with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue no one will lay a finger on your firearms.” pic.twitter.com/Xhh2bAaXM7
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) April 14, 2023
Trump at the NRA event: “If we can send $120 billion to Ukraine, then we can afford 1/10th of that amount to protect American children in American schools.”
We put security around everyone else with security! pic.twitter.com/jZMl0P7CnP
— KC (@KCPayTreeIt) April 15, 2023
Also speaking at the event, DeSantis incidentally shared a similar pro-gun message.
“As governor, I’ve resisted calls to take up gun control even when such a stand is superficially unpopular because I understand that it is precisely at those moments when a right is unpopular that it needs true champions,” he reportedly said.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
- School secretary admits to multiple, repeated sex acts with 13-yr-old boy, then goes on the run - March 19, 2026
- Nick Shirley says California fraud could be as high as $500 billion - March 19, 2026
- Police officers exposed illegal alien fraud in CT years ago, Obama’s DOJ put them in prison for it - March 19, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.