Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said negotiating with President Donald Trump over gun control legislation was much like dealing with him on other issues, saying the president "says what's convenient."
"When I dealt with the president on immigration, I said negotiating with him is like negotiating with Jell-O. And that's what happens," Schumer told CNN. "He believes one thing one day and then seems to contradict himself."
Trump met with lawmakers on Wednesday where he indicated he was open to gun control measures that included strengthening background checks and taking guns away from the mentally ill, even without due process. The next day the president met with representatives from the NRA who after the meeting said he was in favor of "strong due process and (doesn't) want gun control."
"Here with guns, it's a typical pattern," Schumer said. "With the bipartisan group and the camera lights on, his instincts were to do the right thing.
"Then the hard-right puts pressure on him — in this case, the NRA — and he does a total 180-degree flip.
"It makes you think that the president has no convictions, that he just says what's convenient at the moment," he added.
Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said he doubted Congress would address gun reform legislation due to this fall's midterm elections.
"[Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell, [House] Speaker [Paul] Ryan are so afraid of the NRA, as are most of their members, that unless Trump gives them cover by saying he's for it, it's very hard to see us getting anything done until maybe the Congress changes in a year after the elections," Schumer said.
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