Former President Donald Trump has a reputation for stepping away from prepared remarks and speaking off the cuff during his public appearances.
Yet his most recent moment left observers scratching their heads and feeling a bit unsettled.
While addressing a roomful of hunters and outdoor-industry leaders in the Rose Garden on Thursday, September 17, Trump boasted that a single stroke of the pen could wipe out an entire industry.
Trump was touting his executive order on “Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage,” which expands hunting and fishing opportunities, according to The Independent.
It also overturns a rule issued by former President Joe Biden banning lead ammunition and tackle, which is poisonous to wildlife.
But Trump didn’t seem to know anything about it.
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Then Trump made a stunning statement.
“That means you can sell a lot of fishing rods, Johnny. You’re going to sell a lot of rods,” Trump crowed to his rapturous audience out of one side of his mouth.
He was talking to billionaire founder of Bass Pro Shops, Johnny Morris, who was there.
Then Trump blurted out an apparent fantasy. “I could have made it so you couldn’t sell, you couldn’t sell anything. I could have banned fishing,” the president bragged.
“I’ll tell you what, the power of this office is crazy. I could have banned fishing and driven Johnny right the hell out of business,” Trump squawked gleefully.
“I think I’m going to do that. Maybe just a quick order just for a day or two,” a giddy Trump threatened.
Social media commenters pointed out how cruel Trump is and how he seems to relish in other people’s suffering.
“He is many things but he takes pleasure in hurting things, people, buildings, countries, relationships…how did this sad shadow of a man get elected our president? We may never understand… but we can fix it,” an X user noted, clearly talking about the upcoming mid-terms.
Others agreed. “Just openly laughing about putting Americans out of businesses and destroying lives and families.”
This poster was dead serious: “He absolutely thinks he’s a dictator. And since Congress won’t do their job, he essentially is.”
But that wasn’t all. As Trump was reading from his prepared script, he suddenly admitted he had no idea what he was talking about.
“This order also protects the use of affordable traditional,” then he abruptly stopped and looked up.
“Well, this is pretty good. I never knew this was a problem. You’re going to have to educate me,” Trump embarrassingly admitted.
He apparently signed the executive order without even knowing what’s in it or what it’s about.
“But you put it in — lead ammunition — is ammunition; lead ammunition was a problem, huh?” Trump wondered, startingly.
“Is it better than other ammunition, I assume? It’s uh, pretty good, I don’t know what the hell that means, but I know one thing: You wanted it. You wanted it and I’m here for you!” Trump extolled.
“So, the order protects the use of affordable, traditional lead ammunition, that sounds good to me!” the president crowed.
The order allows the use of dangerous lead ammo again, which Trump did not even know about.
In 2023, under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) finalized a rule to phase out and ban traditional lead ammunition and fishing tackle in eight specific national wildlife refuges by 2026.
Opponents were furious claiming that poisonous lead had no impact on the environment or on wildlife. Instead, they claimed that lower-income people would no longer be able to afford ammo if lead bullets were banned.
Lead shot has been banned for waterfowl hunting since 1991. There are environmentally safe alternatives to lead shot and fishing sinkers.
