The NRA's first ad of the election season is a false claim about Joe Biden

The National Rifle Association isn't starting its election season ad campaign on an accurate note.

In its first 2020 election-focused ad, the NRA claims Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden "opposes your right to self-defense," using dubiously mushy language to denigrate Biden's stance on gun control. But then it moves on to say Biden "wants to cut police funding," which is simply untrue.

As protests against police brutality elevated calls to "defund police" across the country, Biden's campaign specifically spoke against the idea. Biden "does not believe that police should be defunded," his campaign said in June. "He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change," but believes instead in "reform" for police forces. The same statement actually called for more funding — for community policing programs, more training for officers, body cameras, and diversifying police departments.

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So while the NRA ad fits with President Trump's vision of Biden's platform, claiming the former vice president would allow for chaos to erupt across suburbs, "take away your Second Amendment," and embrace crime, it doesn't align with what Biden has actually said. Summer Meza