Of course, Trump dismisses criticism as he says he just meant that the "2nd amendment people" could stop her by voting for him. This, he says, is the only possible interpretation. Hmmmm ...
As you can see from the text, he sets up a hypothetical where Clinton has won the election and as POTUS she is in a position to pick judges hostile to gun rights. He says nobody can stop that at that point save the 2nd amendment people. At that point, only the new Senate or political assassination (of POTUS or the nominated Judges) can stop those new Judges ruling on the 2nd amendment.
Of course, just because assassination is the implication of the comment doesn't mean he intended to imply this. But the moment any reasonable person realises that they misspoke in such a sensitive area, an apology and clarification is clearly warranted. But Trump doubles down and says there's nothing wrong with what he said.
I don't accept his assertion that he didn't mean assassination. It's a well-worn tactic he uses. He loves floating things before walking away from them. He uses the childish technique of saying things like, "I'm not going to say she's ugly - I'm not going to do that". He also uses the "many people are saying" formulation to float slander and conspiracy theories. At the RNC, Trump had speakers calling for Hillary to be locked up and one of Trump's policy advisors called for her to be executed by a firing squad. Against this inflammatory background, his comments were very loaded. It is a clear dog-whistle.
On the other hand, Hillary has now had an unforced error of her own. The father of the Orlando shooter attended a rally she was giving and actually sat behind her so that he was visible in the TV shots. What terrible "optics" as Americans like to say. He claimed he was invited which is denied by Hillary's people. But it is one helluva stuff up in a vital swing state.
As you can see from the text, he sets up a hypothetical where Clinton has won the election and as POTUS she is in a position to pick judges hostile to gun rights. He says nobody can stop that at that point save the 2nd amendment people. At that point, only the new Senate or political assassination (of POTUS or the nominated Judges) can stop those new Judges ruling on the 2nd amendment.
Of course, just because assassination is the implication of the comment doesn't mean he intended to imply this. But the moment any reasonable person realises that they misspoke in such a sensitive area, an apology and clarification is clearly warranted. But Trump doubles down and says there's nothing wrong with what he said.
I don't accept his assertion that he didn't mean assassination. It's a well-worn tactic he uses. He loves floating things before walking away from them. He uses the childish technique of saying things like, "I'm not going to say she's ugly - I'm not going to do that". He also uses the "many people are saying" formulation to float slander and conspiracy theories. At the RNC, Trump had speakers calling for Hillary to be locked up and one of Trump's policy advisors called for her to be executed by a firing squad. Against this inflammatory background, his comments were very loaded. It is a clear dog-whistle.
On the other hand, Hillary has now had an unforced error of her own. The father of the Orlando shooter attended a rally she was giving and actually sat behind her so that he was visible in the TV shots. What terrible "optics" as Americans like to say. He claimed he was invited which is denied by Hillary's people. But it is one helluva stuff up in a vital swing state.
