The Fallout From the NRA's Animal Cruelty Story (Ft. Cam Edwards)

The Weekly Reload Podcast

This week, we unfortunately have to talk about a story that comes with a content warning.

News of NRA CEO Doug Hamlin's involvement in the torture and killing of a cat during college resurfaced on Monday. Hamlin has denied "direct" involvement, but contemporaneous reporting indicates his role was more than ancillary. Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms joins the show to work out what this all means for the already-battered NRA.

Cam said the story is gruesome and will make it difficult for Hamlin to effectively reform the organization as he's said he wants to. But he also argued it may not stick to the NRA for longer than Hamlin is around, especially given the lightning-quick nature of the modern news cycle.

He also said the animal cruelty story may have had an impact on the group canceling its Georgia event with Donald Trump, but that might also be part of a broader trend of Trump canceling events. Still, he said the scandal is likely to hurt the NRA's efforts to rebound from its previous CEO's, as yet unsettled, corruption scandal. And it's becoming increasingly clear how much that's put them at a disadvantage against the gun-control groups when it comes to political spending.

We also discuss Elon Musk's recent pro-gun turn and whether he could become a counter to Michael Bloomberg's funding of gun-control groups.

Free Dispatch trial here: https://thedispatch.com/join-offer-reload/?utm_source=thereload&utm_medium=partnerships-podcast&utm_campaign=0924

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.