Trump’s remarks on gun rights, Clinton unleash torrent of criticism

Thursday, 11 August 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that gun rights activists could act to stop Democratic rival Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal US Supreme Court justices, igniting yet another fire storm of criticism just as he sought to steer clear of controversy.

“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said at a rally. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know,” he continued.

The US Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear firearms.

Before the remark, Trump had been emphasizing his case against Clinton, who is leading in national opinion polls in the race for the Nov. 8 election. Some in the audience in North Carolina who were seated behind Trump could be seen wincing when he made the comment.

Clinton’s campaign called the remark “dangerous.”

“A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way,” it said.

When asked to clarify what Trump meant, his campaign said he was referring to getting supporters of the Second Amendment to rally votes for Trump in the election. “It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power,” the Trump campaign said in its statement.

Immediately after Trump made his comment, many on social media accused him of effectively calling for Clinton’s assassination. In just three hours, 2nd amendment became the top trending topic on Twitter, with more than 60,000 posts mentioning the term.

Introducing Trump later at another rally in North Carolina, in Fayetteville, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused the news media of taking the remark out of context to help Clinton get elected.

“What he meant by that was you have the power to vote against her,” Giuliani said to cheers. “You have the power to speak against her. You know why? Because you’re Americans.”