ATLANTA — Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, on Friday told gun-rights activists they have to do their best to support President Trump because “leftist zealots” and elites are determined to tear him down.

“We must do all we can to support our president, because as you know, there’s an intense war that’s being waged by leftist zealots to destroy President Trump and destroy his administration,” Mr. LaPierre said.

“It’s up to us to speak up against the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites, and media elites,” he said. “These are America’s greatest domestic threats.”

Mr. LaPierre called Sen. Bernard Sanders a “political predator of young voters who were lied to by school teachers and college professors.”

Mr. LaPierre was speaking at the 2017 NRA Institute for Legislative Action’s “Leadership Forum” at the gun-rights group’s annual meetings, held this year in Atlanta.

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