Don Jr.'s latest 'grift' comes with 'lethal consequences' for America: analyst

Donald Trump Jr. has found yet another way to monetize his father's presidency — and this could have deadly consequences, a new analysis warns. Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton on Thursday authored a withering editorial about the eldest Trump son's spokesman position at online retailer GrabAGun and his ownership of 300,000 in the publicly traded company. "It’s pretty clear this is just another Trump family grift, and that it will likely have lethal consequences," wrote Digby. "Somebody’s going to make a profit at it, and the Trumps are always first in line to wet their beaks." Parton notes Trump Jr. was hired ostensibly because he "supports Second Amendment issues," according to company claims. But the timing — landing the gig in 2025 immediately after his father's election — and the equity stake suggest something far more calculated, Parton argued. "The Washington Post recently reported , in the course of eliminating more than 34 gun regulations, the ATF has proposed to eliminate the requirement that background checks for gun purchases be done in person," she wrote. "All of this benefits one company in particular: GrabaGun, which sells guns online. The company would like to be able to conduct its own digital background checks and sell directly to buyers, instead of being forced to send their weapons to licensed gun dealers, who then perform the background checks in person." The columnist also details the many ways in which the Trump administration has made it easier for Americans to get their hands on guns. Those tactics include, according to Parton, instructing the Justice Department to investigate "ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights,” destroying the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' zero-tolerance for criminal gun dealers, allowing veterans declared incompetent to handle money to purchase guns and preventing the Health and Human Services from tracking gun deaths. Wrote Parton, "It’s all hands on deck."