Trump is scheduled to speak at the NRA’s forum later Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. NRA endorses Donald Trump

The National Rifle Association on Friday endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“We have to unite, and we have to unite right now. So on behalf of the thousands of patriots in this room and the 5 million NRA members across this country and the tens of millions who support us, I’m officially announcing the NRA’s endorsement of Donald Trump for president," NRA executive director Chris Cox said Friday at the organization’s leadership forum in Louisville, Kentucky.


“Now is the time to unite. If your preferred candidate got out of the race, it's time to get over it,” Cox said, imploring gun owners to vote for those who can't, such as deceased veteran Adam Brown. “We owe it to Adam and people like him to get off our rear ends and get in the arena.”

Cox told the crowd that dishonesty, corruption and contempt for everyday Americans has hit its breaking point, warning that if gun owners don’t show up to the polls in droves this fall, “We will witness the end of individual freedom in this country.”

“That’s not hyperbole,” he added. “It’s the truth. But the first thing we have to do is get together.”

Cox acknowledged the differences among the 17 GOP candidates who ran for president, even noting that some reasons for favoring one candidate over another were valid. But none of that matters with Hillary Clinton in the White House, he said.

The NRA played a brief clip in which the Democratic front-runner said: “Here again, the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment, and I am going to make that case every chance I get. So I will need your help on that.”

The audio of Clinton’s remarks, which were recently resurfaced by the Trump campaign, was released last fall. The former secretary of state was speaking at a private fundraiser in New York and likely referencing the 2008 Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller. The high court ruled then that a ban on handguns was unconstitutional, extending Second Amendment rights to federal enclaves.

“Think about that for a second: The Supreme Court said do you have the right to protect your life against a murderer in your own home, and Hillary Clinton says they got it wrong,” Cox said. “That’s how little she values our freedom and how little she values our lives.”

Cox suggested Clinton is a hypocrite who’s protected by armed security yet wants to take away Americans’ guns.

“She wants us to live in a place where only law enforcement has guns and everything is free: free meals, free health care, free education,” he said. “Well, Hillary, that place does exist, and you just might get to live there. It's called prison.”

He continued lambasting Clinton, calling her a “corrupt politician who will say anything to get elected.”

“Hillary Clinton has a legitimate chance to be the next president, as long as people like us stay home, sit on the sidelines,” he said. “And you know what? We’re giving her reason for optimism these days. She looks at all the discord and division and starts shopping online for his-and-her twin beds for the White House.”

Wayne LaPierre, NRA’s executive vice president, energized the crowd, asking if attendees were “ready to send Hillary into retirement? Or maybe an orange jumpsuit.”

He later said they would soon “hear from a man who offers a very different White House and a far more hopeful nation” than Clinton.

“We in this room, we are America's best hope, and this is our moment. In all of history, there's always been a time and a place when patriots stand up and rise up against the decree of the elites and shout, ‘No more! Get your hands off my freedom!’” LaPierre said. “That time and place is now. We stand together. We stand and we fight like hell for freedom. The revolution to take America back starts here. It starts on this day, and by God, we will elect our next president, we will save our freedom and America truly will be great again.”

Trump’s speech followed the remarks of the NRA’s leadership.

“The NRA has led the fight time and time again to protect our fundamental freedoms. This is an amazing group. I’ll tell you, Chris, and Wayne, and all of the people — and I've gotten to know a lot of — these are incredible people,” Trump said during his address. “And they really believe — this isn’t like a job — they really, really believe, and we’re all lucky to have people like that, I will tell you. Really lucky. Of course, if they didn’t endorse me maybe I wouldn’t say that.”