Did Trump Just Make An Assassination Threat Against Clinton?

Great Odin’s raven! What did Donald Trump say now? Well, at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, the Republican nominee said that Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment, but perhaps the gun rights crowd could stop that.

“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know," he said.

On its face, this is a horrible thing to say. Is he referring to Clinton? Her judges? Was this a veiled assassination threat? Liberal Democrats, of course, went ballistic—with calls that Trump be investigated by the Secret Service for making a possible threat. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who has made it his mission to pass more gun control, said that this isn’t a joke. He tweeted out a link to the federal statute on threatening to kill a presidential candidate. He also mentioned how “embarrassing and sad” it is that we have this type of rhetoric on the campaign trail. Murphy also said that these remarks could up “the possibility of a national tragedy and crisis,” as “unstable people with powerful guns and an unhinged hatred for Hillary are listening” to Trump.

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,” said Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager.

All right—let’s simmer down a bit. First, we’ve seen this happen before--with Trump’s remarks about tossing a baby out of a rally. In Ashburn, Virginia, Trump casually said that a mother and her crying baby could get lost. He was slammed in the press for doing so, but he didn’t actually eject the mother or her child. Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star wrote that the mother left on her own volition since that’s what you do when a baby cries in a room full of people. She returned with her child sucking on a pacifier. The Washington Post gave Trump the rare Geppetto mark, saying he was “unfairly maligned” by the media for the baby remarks. At the same time, Mr. Trump’s bizarre delivery when he’s joking around that often misses the mark, which is why he gets into trouble at times. After all, if you look at the video clip, he does come off as rude, callous, and totally ridiculous. Is that what’s going on again here?

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No.

That was a baby; this appears to be talking about assassination in the most cavalier way.

Now, I’m sure Trump doesn’t want to see Hillary Clinton assassinated, nor does he want his supporters to engage in violence. Trump supporters will obviously circle the wagons, saying he meant gun rights voters—and how their participation in this election cycle could stop Clinton and her anti-gun judicial nominations. Okay—then why single out just Second Amendment supporters? Why didn’t he just say all of his supporters? Moreover, it’s not like pro-Second Amendment voters are monolithic in their voting habits either. Believe it or not, there will be more than a few gun owners who vote for Clinton. In Virginia, 33 percent of those who said there’s a gun owner in their household voted for pro-gun control Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Yet, that’s beside the point. Why did he even mention this horrible statement at all?

If he meant it as a joke, in keeping with his weird delivery regarding humor, it’s another instance of the billionaire exhibiting appalling judgment. It’s not funny. And yes, it could land you in serious trouble. At the same time, I doubt that these remarks will activate gun owners with some sort of Manchurian Candidate mentality who will go to extraordinary lengths to shoot Clinton. That’s getting a bit aggressive, but that doesn’t excuse Trump from casually making indirect/vague (and idiotic) remarks about threats of violence. By the recent polls, the man needs to concentrate and get back on message to avoid slaughter come November.

Lastly, we will be talking about this for quite a bit now. If Trump was able to control himself, maybe the story about a pro-Taliban supporter attending a Clinton rally in Florida might have gained more traction. After all, in June, this person’s son committed the worst mass shooting carried out by an individual in American history in Orlando.

That's right–Seddique Mateen was present at Clinton’s rally in Kissimmee, where he says he was invited to the event, as he’s a member of the Democratic Party. The Clinton camp denies personally inviting him, but he was given prime seating right behind her at the rally. The former first lady is executing a two-day swing in the Sunshine State, where she’s dogged questions about Mateen being at her rally. But we’re not going to discuss that now…because Donald Trump appears to have made a bad assassination joke.

And the sad thing is that while Clinton may not explicitly say she wants to abolish the Second Amendment (because that would be political suicide), she does support policies that are unconstitutional regarding our gun laws. When she says she supports Australian-style gun control, she’s talking about bans and confiscation. Another point that’s going to be lost in the ether.

Last Note: Too late, man—again, why can’t you just articulate this from the get-go?

Garry Kasparov, an anti-Putin activist, isn't too amused either.