Americans ditch NRA after its attacks on school shooting survivors

The NRA might want to think about hiring a new spokesperson, because Dana Loesch is doing an awful job.

Loesch has led the radical gun group’s ghoulish public response to the February massacre in Parkland, Florida. And that response has led to a historic nosedive in the organization’s public approval ratings.

More Americans now have an unfavorable opinion of the NRA than a favorable one, according to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. “It’s the first time since before 2000 when the NRA has been viewed more negatively than positively in the NBC/WSJ poll,” NBC reports.

And some of the numbers are particularly striking. White married women went from a 50 percent positive rating in April 2017 to a 35 percent rating in the new poll. And white women more broadly dropped from 47 to 33 percent over the same period. Respondents labeled as “moderate/soft Republicans” also have a markedly lower opinion, with approval dropping from 72 to 60 percent.

And for good reason. The NRA has become increasingly toxic as it leads the opposition to gun reform. And it repels people by continuing to attack students for speaking out in favor of gun safety.

On Monday, Loesch claimed that rank-and-file NRA members were also victims of the mass shooting in Parkland. They were “victims” because people have been saying mean things about the NRA, according to Loesch.

Right after the Florida killings, she bizarrely insisted that the media “loves mass shootings.”

And the group complained that companies cutting ties with it were engaged in a “shameful display of political and civic cowardice.”

CEO Wayne LaPierre even crudely described teenage survivors speaking out for their dead classmates as “opportunists” determined to “exploit tragedy for political gain.”

Notably, the FBI is reportedly investigating whether Russian operatives funneled millions of dollars to the NRA in 2016.

In terms of gun policy, the NRA continues to lose the public debate. More and more Americans want the government to ban assault weapons and raise the gun-buying age to 21.

The group refuses to be a common sense partner on the issue of gun safety. Instead, it clings to a radical agenda in the face of a gun violence epidemic in America.

Dana Loesch is bad at her job. The NRA is increasingly toxic. And Americans have clearly had enough.