“The NRA, as you know, endorsed me”. “Donald Trump is urging people around this country to act in a manner consistent with their convictions in the course of this election, and people who cherish the Second Amendment have a very clear choice in this election”.
Advertisement
Before the remark, Trump had been emphasising his case against Clinton, who is leading in national opinion polls in the race for the November 8 election. But within minutes, Clinton’s campaign denounced the remarks as an attempt to incite violence. “A person seeking to be President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way”.
I was pleasantly surprised by the relatively serious coverage devoted to Trump’s Detroit speech.
After the comment provoked widespread criticism, the Trump campaign released a short statement about the “dishonest media” in which a Trump spokesman said that supporters of the Second Amendment were unified in voting for Trump, not Clinton.
But the Clinton campaign considered Trump’s comment more ominous. Get more Spectator for less – just £12 for 12 issues. “You have the power to speak against her. You know why?” Trump asked.
“It proves that most of the press is in the tank for Hillary Clinton”, he added.
The thought seems to be that Trump, in the absence of having real, intractable ideas himself, will just defer to the ideas of groups like Heritage.
Trump has garnered disdain from a large swath of America’s political, defense and security establishment for his unorthodox – some say downright risky – views, such as his professed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his apparent readiness to scuttle America’s central role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance.
In May, Politifact found no evidence that Clinton ever advocated repealing or abolishing the Second Amendment. “This is a tremendous political movement”. Wayne (LaPierre) and Chris (Cox) and all the people over there and they tweeted out, basically they agree 100 percent with what I said.
And Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said it was a death threat by a “pathetic coward” who was sore because he was trailing in the polls to a woman. There’s “nothing you can do” in this situation because Trump is talking about a time in which the 2016 election has already passed and Clinton is president.
Was Trump suggesting gun owners take matters into their own hands?
On Twitter, the Secret Service said it “is aware of the comments”.
With a vacancy on the nation’s Supreme Court and the potential for the next president to name several new justices, Trump said Clinton would “decimate the Second Amendment”, which guarantees Americans the right to bear arms. A video of the rally shows a man seated behind Trump open his mouth in disbelief and turn to his companion with a puzzled look on his face after Trump made the remark.
It’s not alone in its call for the Republican Party to ditch Trump.
But Democrats called Trump’s remarks another sign of a candidate unfit for the White House.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of CT, the state where 20 schoolchildren and six adult staff were shot dead by a deranged gunman at an elementary school in 2012, issued a stern rebuke of Trump for his comments. #ProtectHillary was also one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter.
But for the Heritage Foundation ― and its cousin political operation, Heritage Action for America, which can more actively engage in political activities ― Donald Trump presents a rare opportunity: a politician without policies.
Advertisement
Please enter your email.
