Later, at a press conference after his landslide primary win, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan waved off two chances to condemn Trump, saying that he had been busy and never heard the full quote.
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His comments quickly drew criticism, with the Clinton campaign calling the remarks risky. His campaign maintains he was talking about the political pull of the Second Amendment, while others hear a call for violence against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over the right to bear arms.
The mogul said that Clinton “wants to abolish, to essentially abolish the Second Amendment”, a charge she has flatly denied.
“What he meant by that was, you have the power to vote against her”, Giuliani said. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know“, Trump said.
He added: “But I tell you what, that will be a awful day, if Hillary gets to put her judges in, right now we’re tied”.
“This is simple – what Trump is saying is unsafe”.
“A person seeking to be President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way”, said Clinton strategist Robby Mook.
“This is a political movement”. She has said repeatedly that she supports the Second Amendment right to own guns, though she does back some stricter gun control measures. “And there can be no other interpretation”. “Trump, to me, looks like someone who would be more appropriate as just basically a clown more than an actual candidate – especially with the huge contrast you have with the much more regal Obama, such a odd contrast to see”.
“It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have wonderful spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power”, Jason Miller, a top Trump aide, said in the statement.
“It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have incredible spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power”.
“I’ve been very critical of Donald Trump, but I actually don’t think that is what he was saying”, said Collins.
The former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, retired Gen. Michael Hayden, told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “If someone else had said that said outside the hall, he’d be in the back of a police wagon now with the Secret Service questioning him”. “We’ve had enough death and we just have to reject this”, he said.
Senator Chris Murphy in a series of tweets alleged that Trump had given an assassination threat to Clinton. “It’s an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis”. “They are doing everything they can to destroy Donald Trump”. If @HillaryClinton gets to pick her anti-#2A #SCOTUS judges, there’s nothing we can do.
“There is something we will do on #ElectionDay: Show up and vote for the #2A #DefendtheSecond #NeverHillary“, the gun rights organization tweeted. He said that if Clinton becomes president, she could appoint judges who would leave Americans almost but not completely helpless on this front. Some in the audience in North Carolina who were seated behind Trump could be seen wincing when he made the comment.
“They spin out that what he meant by that was that it was a joke, and that what he meant by that was that they would kill her”, Giuliani said as the crowd dropped to a deafening silence, before erupting in boos.
Democratic Sen. Christopher S. Murphy of CT, a gun-control advocate, tweeted a link to federal law, and said, “Casual reading assignment tonight: federal criminal statute on threatening to kill a candidate for President”.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden blasted the “Second Amendment” comments as “very arresting”. Giffords and her husband both believe that Trump’s words take aim at not only Clinton but to the country.
Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said: “I think it was just revealing and I don’t find the attempt to roll it back persuasive at all”. The U.S. Constitution assigns the Senate the power to confirm the president’s nominations to the Supreme Court.
“By the way, and if she gets to pick – if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks”, Trump warned.
The Republican presidential nominee has been working this week to move past distracting campaign disputes, but once again he put himself at the center of a blazing controversy.
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An anti-Trump super PAC “Democratic Coalition Against Trump” said the FBI should investigate the Republican nominee. “It is flat out unsafe”, said Ilya Sheyman, the organization’s executive director.
