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.