The NRA Spent Itself Into Debt Supporting Donald Trump

An audit of the National Rifle Association’s finances obtained by OpenSecrets shows the organization’s income from dues-paying members has been “plummeting” for the last two years, contributing to the organization’s deficit of $31.8 million last year. Lol!!!

This isn’t the first hint of legal trouble for the organization: In July, the NRA claimed in a court filing that it would be “unable to exist” without the ability to renew its media liability insurance. In that lawsuit, the group blamed their insurance woes on a directive from Andrew Cuomo’s administration urging financial and insurance companies to cut ties with the NRA.

According to OpenSecrets, “one of the biggest drivers of the group’s falling revenue is dwindling dues from NRA members, which fell from more than $163 million in 2016 to $128 million in 2017.” The NRA had seen declining revenue before, but 2016-2017 was “the only period during which dues declined for more than a single year,” the site reported, and the group was simply spending much more than it took in. Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor from Ohio State University, told OpenSecrets the NRA’s business model “cannot be sustained the way it is going.”

The audit obtained by OpenSecrets showed that just three years ago, the NRA had a surplus of $27.8 million. As the site notes, the NRA threw tons of money into election spending in 2016: FEC filings show it spent “at least $51.5 million” that year, with most of that going to support Donald Trump. This year, the NRA’s election spending has been much lower, even compared to the last midterm year: In 2014, the NRA had spent $10.7 million by this point, whereas this year it’s only spent $2.7 million. Running out of money much, bitch? No money much? Deficit much? Bitch?

The NRA has been shoving money at other political causes besides the midterm elections. In August, it announced it would spend at least $1 million on ads urging senators to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, providing yet another reason to hope Kavanaugh isn’t confirmed: It would be extremely funny if these indebted gunfuckers ended up wasting $1 million of money they don’t have.

Perhaps this financial downturn can be explained in part by the NRA’s shift toward acting like a right-wing media outlet, described by Media Matters as a “hybrid of Breitbart and Infowars,” whipping up fury and fear about all manner of conservative issues on its insane online TV show. Maybe that’s where the money is these days, except in this case, that money goes toward funding the deadly status quo on guns.