The Republican nominee suggested her liberal nominations would threaten gun ownership rights when he said: “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment”. He then added: “The Second Amendment people, maybe there is”.
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As he tried to end the fall out from the gaffe Mr Trump said he had been referring to the political voting power of gun owners, not inciting violence.
He told Baldwin he was completely sure that Trump’s remarks were a joke (though the Secret Service apparently disagrees), and that he knew that the media and Trump’s critics were likely to pile on them.
“No such meeting or conversation ever happened”, Trump wrote on Twitter, accusing CNN of having made up the report.
Democrats quickly jumped on the comments as further evidence that Trump is undisciplined and unprepared for the presidency, while Trump insisted he was never advocating violence against Clinton. S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison conceded he didn’t believe Trump was seriously recommending that Clinton be shot to prevent her from appointing Supreme Court justices, but did say the comments didn’t diminish the seriousness of the incident. “If you are running to be president, or you are president of the United States, words can have tremendous consequences”.
Clinton’s campaign decried Trump’s “dangerous” language and demanded in a statement that presidential hopefuls “not suggest violence in any way”.
“What Trump is saying is risky”, campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.
Clinton’s campaign announced an outreach effort to woo support from disenchanted Republicans for the Democratic nominee.
“Donald Trump lost me a long time ago”, Shays told MSNBC in an interview. “A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not be suggesting violence in any way”, said a spokesperson.
Her rally comes amid a push by her campaign to aggressively reach out to Republicans and independents willing to denounce Trump and support her. “And speaking of that, remember this: We have so many things that we have to protect in this country-we have to protect our Second Amendment, which is under siege”.
Clinton will continue her appeals to Republicans and independents Thursday with an economic speech in Detroit.
Trump’s campaign said the comment was misinterpreted and that he was encouraging gun activists to use their political power.
Mr Trump had previously stirred criticism for engaging in a spat with the parents of a Muslim US soldier who was killed in Iraq.
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The figures underscore deep divisions within the Republican Party over Mr Trump’s candidacy.
