The Trump campaign released a statement yesterday defending the Republican nominee’s controversial comment about 2nd amendment activists, even though people perceived the comment as a call for an assassination of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment,” Trump said at a North Carolina Rally. “By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
The Trump campaign responded to the assassination interpretation fairly quickly. In an email titled “Trump Campaign Statement on Dishonest Media” spokesperson Jason Miller said this:
“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.”
This would be a valid explanation for Trump’s comments. However, Miller is talking about the 2nd amendment people’s power to vote. In Trump’s hypothetical, the time to vote has supposedly passed. Yet Clinton only picks supreme court judges if she wins. Therefore Trump couldn’t have been talking about what gun rights activists should do on election day.
That logical gap is indicative of a big problem with Trump’s statement. The comment and many things Trump says are entirely too vague and open to dangerous interpretation. If he wants to inspire people to invoke the power of assembly he should say that. He probably doesn’t actually want an assassination to occur. However, his words might inadvertently insight those who support him to act.
The Secret Service is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) August 9, 2016
Also not impressed by Trumps Rhetoric: the Secret Service. Both Clinton and trump are under Secret Service protection. Part of their job description is to protect the presidential candidates at all costs. Even if that means taking a bullet. Naturally, the Secret Service doesn’t have patience for vague jokes that might incite a threat to someone they are protecting.
