Andrea Mitchell brought Fred Guttenberg, parent of one of the teens who lost their lives in the Parkland shooting on to discuss Trump's photo opportunity in the White House earlier today.
Suffice it to say, he was critical.
"First, on bump stocks, mazel tov, congratulations. If he means it," Guttenberg said, referring to Trump's wave-in-the-air-and-they're-gone mention of them. "To just say they're gone, they're gone, that's not policy. That's just a hope. I'm hoping with him."
Guttenberg went on to say that arming teachers is "a horrifically bad idea" and a "diversionary poison pill," expressing his desire that no one take that pill because it would have killed more kids before he moved on to the NRA speech last Thursday, where he had some observations about Donald Trump, Wayne LaPierre and the NRA.
"[Trump's speech] is one of those things where I start off feeling okay, and I end up pissed off," Guttenberg said. "The talk listed a lot of nice ideas, but it was wrapped up in something that was horribly scary."
"This idea that we should embrace the NRA as our friends in this policy -- That, to me, sounds like somebody who doesn't understand what we need to do," he said. "That, to me, sounds like somebody who does not want to do what we need to do to keep the kids of this country safe. That to me does not sounds like somebody who wants me to send my kid back to school and know he's going to be safe."
"The NRA does not have my kid's best interest at heart. I'm certain of that," Guttenberg added.
"I listened to what happened on Thursday after the town hall where the head guy of the NRA, LaPierre, and his spokesperson, spoke," he continued. "What they said, and I couldn't figure out why. It bothered me all weekend. It hit me this weekend."
"What you need to know about me is about 15 to 20 years ago, I used to work in the world of pharmaceuticals, specifically in the area of mental health. I called on doctors with an antipsychotic. I used to listen to patients talk about their delusions, their hallucinations, and their paranoid behavior. The language -- and I'm not a doctor here and I'm not diagnosing anybody, but the language that was used and is used by this group sounds an awful lot like those patients that I used to listen to. "
Pleading with viewers, he continued, "[The NRA] speaks some scary language. I will not embrace them. And please don't ask me to. We need to stop them. We need to stop their role in policy. We need to reach out to every single company that gives them the money to have power over our elected officials."
Guttenberg then specifically called out Amazon and Apple for their strong business relationships with the NRA, asking them to sever ties
"They allow this organization to become the poster child of good behavior in this debate. They are not," he emphasized.
Watch Guttenberg above, via MSNBC.
