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Even Before His Trial, the N.R.A.’s Wayne LaPierre Was a Fraud | The New Yorker

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This story was published in partnership with The Trace, a nonprofit news organization covering guns in America. In early January, Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association, and Donald Trump were one floor apart in the civil branch of the New York State Supreme Court, each on trial for a range of financial misdeeds. There was an uncanny symmetry to the occasion. LaPierre had, for more than thirty years, positioned himself as the leader of a warrior tribe in a fight against imminent cultural extinction. He invoked violent imagery, inflamed partisan tensions, stoked outrage, and exploited fear and paranoia. He channelled those emotions in the service of profit and power, tapping into the country’s darkest impulses at the expense of civil society. Before Trump, he was the warmup act that primed the audience. “Do you trust this government to protect you?” he once asked in a speech, and then answered, “We are on our own.” This notion of rugged individual responsibil

Save this story Save this story This story was published in partnership with The Trace , a nonprofit news organization covering guns in America . In early January, Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association, and Donald Trump were one floor apart in the civil branch of the New York State Supreme Court, each on trial for a range of financial misdeeds. There was an uncanny symmetry to the occasion. LaPierre had, for more than thirty years, positioned himself as the leader of a warrior tribe in a fight against imminent cultural extinction. He invoked violent imagery, infla

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