Trump previously said senators were “afraid of the NRA” because they refused to raise the gun purchasing age to 21. Now, after releasing his own proposal, which does not raise the gun purchasing age, it’s clear Trump is also afraid of the NRA.

THEN:

Trump told Republican senators they were “afraid of the NRA” because their legislative proposal did not raise the age to purchase certain types of guns.

CNN: “President Donald Trump asked Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican who's worked on a bill to strengthen background checks for gun purchases, whether he left a proposal to raise the gun purchasing age to 21 out of his measure because senators are ‘afraid of the NRA.’”

NOW:

After the NRA asserted their opposition to raising the age on gun purchases, and sued the state of Florida for doing so, Trump backed off raising the gun purchasing age.

Reuters: “Trump pulls back from big changes to gun laws after Florida shooting”

Associated Press: “Trump backs off call for raising minimum age to buy gun”

New York Times: “But the administration’s efforts appeared to be piecemeal and of limited scope, falling far short of the language Mr. Trump has used for weeks about the need to end the scourge of school shootings, including at a dramatic meeting with relatives of victims of the Parkland, Fla., massacre.”

CNN: “The Trump administration on Sunday night proposed providing some school personnel with ‘rigorous’ firearms training and backed a bill to improve criminal background checks on gun buyers, but backpedaled on the idea of increasing the minimum age to buy certain firearms — a policy President Donald Trump had said he would support.”

NBC News: “But it doesn't include a proposal the president floated March 1 to raise the minimum legal age to buy semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, an idea the National Rifle Association vigorously opposes.”

Bloomberg: “The White House is forging ahead with a plan to give firearms training to teachers while pulling back from moves opposed by gun lobbyists such as raising the age limit for purchasing some weapons.”

Washington Post: “Many of the student survivors have urged Washington to toughen restrictions on gun purchases, but such measures are fiercely opposed by the National Rifle Association, and the Trump plan does not include substantial changes to gun laws.”