Democrats called his language unsafe. “A person seeking to the be President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way”, said a statement from Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.
Advertisement
“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment”, Trump said to boos from the crowd.
“2nd Amendment people have incredible spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power”.
The Secret Service is investigating those remarks, made last month by Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire state lawmaker and an adviser to Trump on veterans’ issues. Trump has said he wants to debate Clinton but has complained that two of the debates are scheduled during NFL football games, claiming Democrats “rigged” the schedule. “You know why? Because you’re Americans”.
In 2008, Hillary Clinton caused controversy with the “Tuzla dash”, a made-up story about how she had to duck sniper fire when landing in the former Yugoslavia during her tenure as First Lady.
“It is not that her voters are in love with Secretary Clinton — they just dislike her less than they disdain Trump”, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
Others said it was much ado about nothing, arguing that Trump was simply touting the political influence of voters motivated by gun rights. If – if Hillary gets to put her judges – right now, we’re tied. This is a tremendous political movement.
Clinton quickly dismissed Trump’s proposal, which would reduce to three the number of income tax brackets and cut corporate taxes to 15 percent.
Retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey also spoke out against Trump, declaring him unfit for the Oval Office and saying it was “remarkable how little he knows” about national security. “You are responsible for what people hear”.
“It’s called the power of unification”, Jason Miller, campaign spokesman, said in an email sent by the rapid response team.
Gun rights, which have long stirred strong emotions in America, have been a particularly potent issue in the 2016 presidential campaign as violence has convulsed some USA cities. Trump – and not his aides – needs to explain in no uncertain terms that that was not his intent, and apologize, instead of having his surrogates spin it as a media invention.
“I can not think of a worse answer to the problems we face than Hillary Clinton”, Millis said. She has said repeatedly that she supports the Second Amendment right to own guns, though she does back some stricter gun control measures.
Price, an electrician, said he was sold on voting for Trump after the Republican nominee mentioned the work of brick layers and electricians during his Republican National Convention acceptance speech.
Merrill added that after Trump’s Monday morning speech to the Detroit Economic Club – and sticking closely to his script – “the muzzle was bound to come off”.
“I think Donald Trump is very clear”, Pence told NBC Philadelphia reporter Lauren Mayk.
But Democrats called Trump’s remarks another sign of a candidate unfit for the White House.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Clinton supporter and staunch gun-control advocate, said on Twitter: “Don’t treat this as a political misstep”.
Advertisement
Trump is struggling to transition from his strong grassroots primary effort to a more mature head-to-head battle with Clinton.
