Posted on 08/01/2015 11:54:07 AM PDT by GoneSalt
The killing of a beloved lion named Cecil by a trophy hunting dentist from Minnesota has an outraged American public asking: What kind of monsters would kill a majestic big cat for fun?
Unfortunately for one Republican presidential hopeful, the answer is: his sons.
Donald Trump was forced to weigh in on the issue this week after a gory photo of his trophy hunting sons resurfaced online, tying his family to the very practice that has sparked fierce backlash in recent days. When asked for his response at a press conference in Scotland this week, Trump was reportedly far from condemning of the fact that his sons had a hobby of killing innocent animals, too. "My sons love to hunt," The Telegraph and The Daily Mail report Trump said, though he reportedly refused to directly address shooting endangered animals. "They are members of the NRA, very proudly. I am a big believer in the Second Amendment. But my sons are hunters, Eric is a hunter and I would say he puts it on a par with golf, if not ahead of golf. My other son, Don, is a hunter. They're great marksman, great shots, they love it. I em, like golf. I don't do that."
As benign as he makes it sound, Trump's sons are hardly run-of-the-mill hunters. The family's fortune has apparently been used to fund safaris to Africa, targeting beloved animals like elephants and leopards — hunting trips that can range in the tens of thousands of dollars.
While the senior Trump has stated before that he's not a believer in hunting, his unwillingness to discourage the practice outright given the chance stands in contrast to the reaction of other public figures.
“Donald Trump was forced to weigh in on the issue ... “
Trump’s got enough FU money, he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. MSM BS, I’m sick of it.
Cecile was not turned into dinner, he was poached. Look it up freepers!
Animals hunted and killed in the US each year include, Moose, bear, mountain lion, minx, buffalo, wolf, pig, beaver, martins, fowl, seals, reptiles, etc....and I’m sure allot of them are cute cuddly looking beasts.
Sheesh. “Photo shooting.” Barf.
Why would Trump or anyone else with common sense be against big game hunting? The African countries depend upon game hunting for jobs and income. The economics of big game hunting and safaris are a boon to the economies in those poor countries.
The people themselves of Zimbabwe are wondering what the fuss is all about over a lion? They are not an endangered species.
We have too many low information people jumping all over this single incident, mostly Democrats. Grow up!
It seems very likely to me that that dentist was duped by con artists..very possibly even ones working for the government.I'd be willing to bet that he truly thought he was acting within the law.Therefore I'd strongly oppose his being sent to a Fourth World cesspool like Zimbabwe for trial.
There are plenty of reasons to believe that Trump isn't the best choice for the nomination but the fact that his sons hunt isn't one of them.
The story doesn’t appear on TMZ’s website.
Poached in Africa? Get a grip. I used to live in Africa. The definition of poaching changes hourly, depending completely on the whims of corrupt officials.
Sadly the dentist simply paid too much, or not enough, to the right people.
Hell, if the media is going after Trump because of supporting hunting, he has a big chunk of the vote, right off the bat.
Your definition of “bad form,” sounds awfully like “Gay State” - perhaps you have succumbed?
Don’t buy the “endangered species” tripe put out there by WWF. They are leftist whackos.
The dentist has gone this before with a bear. He poached the cat with a collar on. The cat was being tracked for years in a study and was on a reservation.
I've been to Africa several times,the most recent visit being last year.Certain African countries depend hugely on Western tourists visiting their national parks but not,for the most part,for the purposes of "big game hunting".For example,our guide in Kenya last year specifically mentioned that such hunting was illegal there.The armed soldiers we saw at the gates of the several parks we visited..and elsewhere *in* the parks...suggests to me that they take poaching *very* seriously and probably frown on hunting certain animals as well.
I have heard that there are certain *private* reserves in South Africa that allow hunting.Don't know any details but...
Nonsense. Africa is more wild than you can possibly imagine. There is no such thing as a “Reservation” in Zimbabwe as you imagine one.
Shooting a lion with bow and arrow is seriously gutsy. It wasn’t some caged “cat” and I doubt any tracking device was even visible.
Isn’t this something? When it’s the kids of Clinton or Obama, they’re off limits as a campaign issue.
Imagine a Tiger Rug in the Oval Office ROFL
The people running the game preserves love trophy hunting. If it weren’t for the money that brought in there may not be any lions in the wild.
People Eating Tasty Animals
Yes, I belong to PETA....
Oh ok thanks for clearing that up.
Cecil’s brpther Jerico was just killed by poachers
Perhaps the knowledge of this is what secretly fueled the hysteria over Cecil, somebody figured out Trump has some kind of connection to hunting, and this could be used ultimately against him....These outrages don’t occur at random, there is always an agenda behind it.
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