‘Deadeye Donald’: New York Times Shoots From The Hip
New York Times writer Gail Collins sprayed a barrage of verbal ammunition at Donald Trump’s swaggering gun policy, dubbing the GOP candidate, “Deadeye Donald.”
Published on May 20, the Times op-ed piece began with a simple statement.
“Donald Trump has a permit to carry a gun.”
“‘Nobody knows that,’ he told a gathering of the National Rifle Association on Friday. Well actually, it’s pretty hard to not know since he brings it up all the time.”
The op-ed was emitting puffs of humor but poses explosive questions.
Trump’s boasting at the NRA convention was the subject of a conversation on NPR. Tom Mauser, the parent of a student who was murdered at Columbine High School in 1999, said that Trump has changed his position on gun control due to pressure from the Republican party.
“It seems to me that the GOP has told Trump that this is one issue, this is one place, where he cannot stray, that he has to worship at the altar of the NRA on these issues.”
NPR News reporter Sarah McCammon said that the NRA may not help Trump into the White House.
“Support from the NRA could help Trump solidify the GOP’s conservative base behind him, but this isn’t a primary anymore. If he wants to win the presidency, he’ll likely need to appeal to more moderate voters.”
One of Trump’s signature campaign tricks to draw attention to himself and deride his opposition is to give them nicknames. It began with “Little Marco,” aimed at Marco Rubio and more recently has included “Pocahontas” Elizabeth Warren.
Now Collins has turned the crosshairs on Trump himself, with “Deadeye Donald.”
This follows John Oliver’s volley of, “Donald Drumpf.”
In her Times piece, Collins blasts away at “Deadeye Donald’s” boast, “Boy, would I surprise somebody if they hit Trump.”
“People, have we ever had a president who spoke about himself in the third person? Something to consider. But more important, what would that surprise entail? Was Trump trying to say that he’d quickly draw his concealed weapon and take the gunman out of circulation?”
Collins continues to take aim at all the verbal clay pigeons Trump tossed out. “If I wasn’t — if I wasn’t surrounded by, like the largest group of Secret Service people..”
“Chances are he couldn’t hit the side of a barn,” Collins jeers, then adds the following parenthetic.
“(If he could, don’t you think we’d have been forced to watch videos of Trump taking that barn out of commission?)”
“This is a more important matter than just the ability to make fun of Donald Trump for bragging, although that’s pretty enjoyable,” Collins admits.
“The entire mythology of the N.R.A. and its supporters is based on the idea that if a person is armed, he or she will be capable of shooting accurately. That the big problem is lack of gun availability, not gun owners who are sloppy, inept and occasionally psychotic.”
She adds that “(gun) sales would plummet overnight” if buyers were required to prove that they could hit a target.
Gail Collins “Meet Deadeye Donald” https://t.co/wF241poDyn via NYTimes
— DeepModemMom (@DeepModemMom) May 21, 2016
“Deadeye Donald” shot up into the realms of Twitter trends on Saturday. The quips were flying in a blaze of glory.
“Does he have a miniature gun for his miniature hands?” @mozartplayer tweeted.
“Grateful for @nytimescollins’ wit and sanity in these times.. on ‘deadeye’ and ‘previous’ drumpf.” – @Nsousanis
“Meet Deadeye Donald: Shoots off his mouth, not his guns!” -@JerryPolitex
“Meet Deadeye Donald. He is the guy that likes to brag about carrying a concealed weapon, but always have the calvary around him. What a clown.” -@raggapegs
“Deadeye Donald shoots from the lip, not from the hip! Very weak, silly pretender.” – @wiremonkey52
The NRA is endorsing Trump for president.
[Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP]
