Donald Trump appeared to encourage
supporters of the Second Amendment to shoot Hillary Clinton Tuesday — a
terrifying remark that could qualify as a felony crime — prompting
countless political figures and gun-control advocates to call for the
unhinged nominee’s exit from the presidential race.
According to the New York Times, Donald
Trump was speaking in Wilmington, N.C. and riffing on his
dissatisfaction with the federal and Supreme Court judges that might be
appointed to the bench in a prospective Clinton administration when he
uttered what seemed to be a jaw-dropping implication.
“Hillary wants to essentially abolish
the Second Amendment. And by the way, if she gets to pick her judges,
nothing you can do folks,” Trump said.
“Although the Second Amendment people,
maybe there is, I don’t know,” Trump added in what seemed to be a
thinly-veiled suggestion that gun advocates turn their weapons on his
November opponent.
A few in the crowd cheered, but many
others appeared shocked by the jarring insinuation, including a man
sitting directly behind the mogul whose mouth fell agape as Trump
uttered the apparent incitement to violence.
Twitter lit up just seconds after Trump
made the remark, with thousands of figures in politics and media
wondering if the mogul had just suggested that gun-owners to turn their
weapons on Clinton due to her desire to tighten gun control laws.
In a statement provided following
Trump’s extreme speech, his campaign said the candidate was referring
merely to “the amazing spirit” of Second Amendment advocates.
“It’s called the power of unification –
2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified,
which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be
voting in record numbers, and it won’t be for Hillary Clinton, it will
be for Donald Trump,” Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Trump camp,
said.
But the NRA quickly weighed in, as well, tweeting that Trump was “right” about what he said.
“.@RealDonaldTrump is right. If
@HillaryClinton gets to pick her anti-#2A #SCOTUS judges, there’s
nothing we can do. #NeverHillary,” the gun group tweeted. “But there IS
something we will do on #ElectionDay: Show up and vote for the #2A!
#DefendtheSecond #NeverHillary,” it added.
The Clinton campaign immediately condemned Trump’s extraordinary words.
“This is simple — what Trump is saying
is dangerous. A person seeking to be President of the United States
should not suggest violence in any way,” Clinton campaign manager Robby
Mook said in a statement.
“This isn’t play. Unstable people with
powerful guns and an unhinged hatred for Hillary are listening to you,
@realDonaldTrump,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “Was
@realDonaldTrump suggesting his supporters shoot Hillary? Shoot her
nominee? Who knows. It’s all so disgusting and embarrassing and sad.”
“Don’t treat this as a political
misstep. It’s an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility
of a national tragedy & crisis,” Murphy added.
In a brief statement, Priorities USA, a Super PAC backing the Democratic nominee called Trump, “Dangerous. Stupid. Unhinged.”
“Totally unacceptable. Every Republican
who backs Trump is backing this reprehensible behavior,” Priorities USA
spokesman Justin Barasky said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) urged the Secret Service to investigate.
“Donald Trump suggested someone kill
Sec. Clinton. We must take people at their word. @SecretService must
investigate #TrumpThreat,” he tweeted.
A concerned anti-Trump group went one step further and contacted the FBI after the mogul’s threat.
“The Democratic Coalition Against Trump
today reached out to high-level contacts in the Washington, D.C. field
office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to voice concerns
about Donald Trump’s call for violence against Democratic Presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton, and to argue that Trump should be arrested for
attempting to incite political violence,” the group said in a statement.
“There is no place in American politics
for this kind of disgusting rhetoric,” Scott Dworkin, a senior official
with the group, added. “Donald Trump should immediately drop out of the
race, and he should be arrested for committing a federal crime,” Dworkin
said, noting that “there have been much less clear-cut cases of people
being charged for less.”
“He’s proven himself to be nothing more
than a thug, and anyone supporting him after this grotesque display
should be publicly shamed. It’s truly abhorrent and we must all stand
united – regardless of party affiliation to say loudly that Americans
reject this kind of hateful and dangerous rhetoric,” he said.
In fact, federal criminal law indicates
Trump have actually crossed the line from bombastic billionaire to
felonious threat-maker
Under 8 U.S.C. § 879 : US Code – Section
879: Threats against former Presidents and certain other persons,”
Trump could even possibly face up to five years in prison.
“(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully
threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon – … (3) a major
candidate for the office of President of Vice President, or a member of
the immediate family of such candidate … shall be fined under this title
or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both,” the statute reads.
In a brief statement, the Secret
Service, which is charged with protecting presidential candidates, said
it was “aware of the comment” Trump made.
Prominent gun control groups blasted Trump’s insinuation.
“What Donald Trump said today is
repulsive – literally using the second amendment as cover to encourage
people to kill someone with whom they disagree,” Brady Center to Prevent
Gun Violence President Dan Gross said. “Today’s effort to encourage
targeted violence based on a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton and
the second amendment proves how dangerous Trump really is.”
“He would rather solve his problems and
political disagreements with violence and bullets than words. For Trump,
violence has become a standard talking point, a common punch line, and
even a campaign strategy,” Gross said. “Instead of offering even a
single solution, Trump has continued to make light of gun violence and
even promote its proliferation.”
Trump’s nod to violence certainly isn’t the first from someone associated with his campaign.
0 comments:
Post a Comment