It also reinforced the concern, voiced by many anxious Republicans, that he can not stay disciplined and avoid inflammatory remarks that imperil not only his White House prospects but the re-election chances of many party politicians.
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After the rally, Rita Schneider, a retired teacher in Des Moines, said she immediately panicked when she saw a protester rush toward the stage.
“Americans are looking to the next president to help bring us together to tackle the big challenges facing the country and Hillary Clinton’s bi-partisan support is the latest proof that she can work across the aisle to make us stronger together”, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement.
Trump later told Fox News “dishonest” reporters had twisted his remarks.
“It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have unbelievable spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power”.
The candidate flailed his arms and shook his head as if to imitate Kovaleski, saying: “Now, the poor guy, you ought to see this guy, ‘Ah, I don’t know what I said, I don’t remember”. “Because he will tell anybody what they want to hear – just to get elected”.
“I really, frankly couldn’t believe he said it”, said Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Republicans in Congress may not like Hillary Clinton, but frankly she’s more predictable than Donald Trump is.
High-profile Republicans and rank-and-file voters appeared shaken on Wednesday after a string of Trump misfires, struggling with how to best reject his divisive candidacy.
“Donald Trump simply does not have the temperament to be president and commander in chief of the United States”, she said.
Gabby Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, said: “Responsible, stable individuals won’t take Trump’s rhetoric to its literal end, but his words may provide a magnet for those seeking infamy”. Donald Trump has also focused heavily on Iowa, making several trips in recent weeks. If he wanted to tell gun rights advocates that they can use their weapons against Clinton, he would have said it outright. “We may not agree on everything but this is not a normal election”.
Chris Shays, a former Republican congressman from CT, says he never voted for a Democratic governor or president.
Trump has dismissed the defections and criticism as an unsurprising reaction of the so-called Washington elite to his drive to change the status quo.
Trump did try to put one other simmering dispute to rest – at least temporarily.
“If someone else had of said that outside the hall, he’d be in the back of a police wagon now with the Secret Service questioning him”, he said.
LISA DESJARDINS: Others charged Trump was indeed inciting violence.
“The only issue now is whether Donald Trump is going to show up to debates at the date, times, places and formats set by the commission a year ago through a bipartisan process”, Podesta said. And there are few things so powerful, I have to say, in terms of politics.
Mr Trump then noted the power Mrs Clinton would have to nominate justices to America’s top court.
Clinton will continue her appeals to Republicans and independents Thursday with an economic speech in Detroit. But his remarks Tuesday undermined that effort.
Referring to Clinton, Trump said, “She’s very much against guns and I’m a very pro-Second Amendment person”.
A federal official familiar with the matter denied a media report that the US Secret Service, which investigates threats against presidents and candidates, had formally spoken with the Trump campaign about his remark.
At another rally later in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Mr Trump was careful with his words.
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But strategists cautioned that it would be hard, if not impossible, to remove Trump from the Republican ticket. “But with this added detail that because Trump has such a large following, that in fact the potential danger of that could have greater impact because people listen to them”.
