Trump said at a campaign stop in North Carolina on Tuesday that “Hillary wants to abolish – essentially abolish the Second Amendment”.
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Some Republicans say they back Clinton because they don’t support Donald Trump’s bombastic style and controversial statements. This includes the above remarks as well as remarks about the NRA which most of us would consider to be “Second Amendment folks”.
On policy issues, Trump Tuesday continued focusing on the economy, saying he would charge American companies that move operations overseas a 35 percent tariff on their goods.
Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, quickly released a statement: “This is simple – what Trump is saying is risky”.
“It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have incredible spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power”, Jason Miller, a top Trump aide, said in the statement.
Some saw the comments as a call for violence against the Democratic candidate.
Hours later, Trump told Fox News he was referring to a “political movement” and that there could be “no other interpretation” of his comment.
Republican vice presidential nominee Indiana Gov. Mike Pence insisted that Trump was not advocating violence during a campaign stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “If he had not so often celebrated violence and wielded dark innuendo against political opponents, minority groups, journalists and others, it would be easier to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case”, it said.
Clinton has stressed she wants to impose stricter limits on gun sales so that weapons do not fall into the hands of people who should not have them, like criminals, the mentally unstable, or those on government terror watch lists.
Clinton’s press secretary, Nick Merrill, added that Trump’s claim that Clinton was against the Second Amendment was false.
Rather wasn’t the only person to express anger at Trump’s comments.
Mr Trump’s reaction as the uproar grew was: “Give me a break”.
“What he meant was, you have the power to vote against her”, Giuliani said.
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“If Trump were not a major-party presidential nominee, his comment yesterday might have earned him a stern visit from the Secret Service”. “It’s a political power, and there are few things so powerful, I have to say, in terms of politics”. “Because if you said that to me, I would say to you, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ I saw it, I heard it, I know what it meant”.
