Donald Trump raised eyebrows Friday night by suggesting Hillary Clinton’s security detail should disarm itself so the whole world can see what would happen to the Democratic nominee.
“I think her bodyguards should drop all weapons. They should disarm immediately,” the GOP nominee said at a campaign stop in Miami, Florida.
“Take their guns away, let’s see what happens to her!” he said.
His comments, which were made as he argued a Clinton presidency would lead to the dismantling of the Second Amendment, did not find a warm reception with certain media figures.
“What in the holy hell is this?” asked Politico’s Ben White.
“Hit my ears the same way,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes agreed, adding, “Just the GOP nominee hinting at the assassination of his opponent!”
MTV News’ Ana Marie Cox was more straightforward in her assessment, and said on social media, “It’s practically an invitation. CANNOT F—KING BELIEVE THIS S—T.”
Trump’s remarks, and the subsequent reaction from politicos and pundits, are reminiscent of when the GOP nominee ambiguously suggested in August that there may be something “Second Amendment people” can do if Clinton wins the White House and appoints pro-gun control judges.
“Hillary essentially wants to abolish the Second Amendment,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina. “By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks.”
“Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is,” he said, adding, “I don’t know.”
His comments drew harsh criticism from not just the press, but from several notable public figures, including President Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis.
“I am the daughter of a man who was shot by someone who got his inspiration from a movie, someone who believed if he killed the president the actress from that movie would notice him,” Davis said in a note on social media. “Your glib and horrifying comment about ‘Second Amendment people’ was heard around the world. It was heard by sane and decent people who shudder at your fondness for verbal violence.”
“It was heard by the person sitting alone in a room, locked in his own dark fantasies, who sees unbridled violence as a way to make his mark in the world, and is just looking for ideas. Yes, Mr. Trump, words matter. But then you know that, which makes this all even more horrifying,” she added.
Calling for proponents of increased gun control measures to themselves abandon all firearm-based security measures is a trope commonly used by the National Rifle Association, which endorsed Trump earlier this year.
