# Donald Trump winks and nods to the Second Amendment people **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 9, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283 "2016-08-09T22:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/161 "2016-08-10T19:17:05Z")
> [@by-tor](#): > > This is what Trump does. He says heinous, outrageous things and gets free press out of it. His later spin will generate more free press. > > And yes, any press is good press as far as his strategy is concerned. It riles up his base, enlists some people who were going to sit out the election or are otherwise undecided and most importantly, keeps the spotlight focused on him for free. > > I do not believe that any of it is off the cuff and the product of deranged idiot. It is calculated. > > And the press take the bait every time. Most days the BBC News site is practically the Trump channel. > > I refuse to click on Trump articles to support it. This is what I came here to say. And I will again anyway. Trump knew exactly what he was saying and how it would be received. The Button-Pusher-in-Chief is all over the media again, out front and center, playing the misunderstood victim and staunchly defending the Second Amendment and Freedom as if that’s what this kerfuffle is all about. And voters have now heard “crooked Hillary” a few more times in the news to help cement that meme in their minds. Trump owns media presence in this campaign, and that’s half the battle when it comes to easily-swayable voters. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/162 "2016-08-10T19:17:16Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m no Trump fan (though I will be voting for him over Clinton), but this rush to take every single thing he says and cast it in the worst possible light is both tiresome and comical. Like he really was hinting that someone should assassinate Clinton. :smack: Well, [it certainly looks like](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/trump-second-amendment/index.html) the Secret Service was taking this seriously. > [@](#): > > A US Secret Service official confirms to CNN that the USSS has spoken to the Trump campaign regarding his Second Amendment comments. > “There has been more than one conversation” on the topic, the official told CNN. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/163 "2016-08-10T19:22:04Z")
> [@MN\_Maenad](#): > > If Trump thinks it’s ridiculous to interpret his words as a call to violence, maybe he should tell [his supporters](https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/trump-reactions?utm_term=.ohmlQzVkE#.bhp0xoXBL) instead of just criticizing the media. At least some of them interpreted it that way too. WHOA! There are some scary tweets at that link. But take a look at [this work of “art”](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-08/9/23/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane01/sub-buzz-10341-1470799795-1.png). It depicts exactly the way Trump sees himself. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/164 "2016-08-10T19:47:26Z")
NY Daily News calls for Trump to end his campaign. > **[Trump must go: Hinting at assassination is too much, even for him ](https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-hinting-assassination-article-1.2744789?utm_content=buffer9e24b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw)** > > Donald Trump must end his campaign for the White House in a reckoning with his own madness, while praying that nothing comes of his musing ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/165 "2016-08-10T19:47:54Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Poor Rudy. He still thinks he could be Attorney General some day. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The “horrible day” thing confirms, IMO, that Trump was talking about violence. Why else would it be a “horrible day” if “2nd Amendment people” take some action in opposition to Hillary Clinton? > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Why the fuck didn’t someone ask him about the “horrible day” part? Presumably because the news-channel employees have been instructed to ‘make sure this stays a horse race’—and the only way to do that is to keep giving Trump a pass on each and every new outrage. But, yes. How refreshing it would be to hear the Trump surrogates be asked: [ul] [li]How do you explain the “horrible day” remark if Trump was, as you say, referring to Uniting the 2nd-Amendment-Supporting Electorate?[/li][li][To those surrogates claiming ‘it was a joke’:] Why do you feel it’s appropriate for Trump to joke about using a gun to solve the ‘problem’ of a President who appoints Justices Trump doesn’t like?[/li][li][To all Trump surrogates:] Why doesn’t Mr. Trump simply make a clear, unambiguous statement on the topic? Why doesn’t he just say “It’s wrong and completely unacceptable to use violence against someone with whom you disagree”…? Wouldn’t that put an end to all this? Wouldn’t that win Mr. Trump some applause from his many critics in the GOP? Why doesn’t he do that?[/li][/ul] > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Unlike most of you I think Trump knew exactly what he was doing. The ability to emit a dog whistle spontaneously is pretty so I think he must have planned it. And how can any sane person doubt what he meant. The only way to prevent a president Clinton from appointing the wrong court justices is up to the 2nd amendment people. And that would be a horrible day (we can agree on that). There is simply no other interpretation possible. And you don’t joke about things like that. Yes. He knew that he was calling for her assassination. It’s of a piece with his recent remark about Clinton, “she’s the devil.” It’s an open invitation for some follower to do the Righteous thing and remove the less-than-human Devil from the earth. It’s deliberate. It’s conscious. It’s what he sees as his _only_ chance to avoid the humiliation of losing. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/trump-on-clinton-shes-the-devil/2016/08/01/eaf34128-584f-11e6-8b48-0cb344221131\_video.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/trump-on-clinton-shes-the-devil/2016/08/01/eaf34128-584f-11e6-8b48-0cb344221131_video.html) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/166 "2016-08-10T19:49:31Z")
ThelmaLou wrote: “But take a look at this work of “art”. It depicts exactly the way Trump sees himself.” Only with better looking women. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/167 "2016-08-10T19:59:28Z")
I think if Trump had come up with it ahead of time, he’d have done a better job with the ambiguity. I think he literally just said the words coming to his mind at the time. He was gonna say it was too late, but then those Second Amendment Solution (2AS) people came to mind, so he said that. Then he followed it with his typical “I don’t know” to try and cover it. This strategy has served him well in the past, so it’s probably just a habit he’s learned. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/168 "2016-08-10T20:07:54Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > WHOA! There are some scary tweets at that link. > > But take a look at [this work of “art”](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-08/9/23/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane01/sub-buzz-10341-1470799795-1.png). It depicts exactly the way Trump sees himself. Many people are saying that Trump fucks eagles. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/169 "2016-08-10T20:08:04Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Do you mean like this? > > [Trump Supporter Gets Crowbar Beating Because Of T-Shirt: Police | Montclair, NJ Patch](http://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/n-j-trump-supporter-gets-crowbar-beating-because-t-shirt-police) Yes, I mean like that. Now let me ask you this: which candidate is it who has smeared immigrants from Mexico? Which candidate has said that he’s going to ban immigrants based on their faith? Which candidate has outright fabricated claims that he saw hundreds (or thousands) of Muslims cheering on the day that the World Trade Center burned and collapsed to the ground? Which candidate has said that otherwise non-violent protesters needed to be roughed up a little? Which candidate has encouraged his supporters to rough up protesters at rallies? Sorry, but when someone goes out of his way to engender animosity, he can’t claim victimization when those flames burn out of control. It’s unfortunate for the protester and, no, of course nobody sanctions that sort of behavior – I’ve been highly critical of these goons as I have those in the pro-Trump camp. But to use Trump’s logic, Trump started it. Trump repeatedly incites violence, both from among his supporters and his detractors. And he’s only upping the ante. We already know that violent rhetoric leads to real violence at Trump events. It doesn’t take much imagination that this is extremely dangerous and that it can escalate. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/170 "2016-08-10T20:09:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Reading his speech for fuller context, I came across this bit, a couple sentences before “First Amendment people”: > > “Bigly”? What the fuck. He really does have the best words. :rolleyes: It’s a perfectly cromulent word. Used because there is no adverb form of embiggens. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/171 "2016-08-10T20:09:45Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > However, you don’t have to twist reality too hard to read the second statement above as a call to the 2nd amendment folks to get out and vote so that Hillary _doesn’t_ get to “pick her judges”. I withdraw my estimation of required amount of reality twisting - I hadn’t seen the ‘horrible day’ portion of Donald’s statement (it’s not part of most stories, although it certainly should be). I guess if I was twisting reality, I could twist it enough to tie the ‘horrible day’ remark back to the concept of the election of Hillary - but that is really going a long ways in parsing. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/172 "2016-08-10T20:11:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > He also said, “that would be a horrible day”. So calling “Second Amendment People” to get out the vote would be a horrible day? Nope. This. Don’t forget to include the ending clause of his statement. It makes absolutely clear what his meaning is and refutes efforts to spin it away. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/173 "2016-08-10T20:12:39Z")
Dumbfuck (former) Georgia Congressman claims (on CNN) he’s never heard the phrase “Never bring a knife to a gunfight.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/174 "2016-08-10T20:16:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think if Trump had come up with it ahead of time, he’d have done a better job with the ambiguity. > > I think he literally just said the words coming to his mind at the time. He was gonna say it was too late, but then those Second Amendment Solution (2AS) people came to mind, so he said that. Then he followed it with his typical “I don’t know” to try and cover it. > > This strategy has served him well in the past, so it’s probably just a habit he’s learned. It shows that in his mind violence against opponents is a proper way of dealing with disputes. This is not the first time. He incited his audiences to beat up protesters. He said he wanted to hit the speakers at the DNC who said nasty things about him. You just can’t do this stuff if you are President. This is exactly the reason the 50 Republicans called him dangerous. If Trump was a Doper, he’d get a warning or get banned for this crap. Is it too much to expect that a presidential candidate not be a jerk? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/175 "2016-08-10T20:20:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If Trump was a Doper, he’d get a warning or get banned for this crap. Is it too much to expect that a presidential candidate not be a jerk? The bar now seems to be set at: “He has not actually done anything illegal.” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/176 "2016-08-10T20:21:22Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m no Trump fan (though I will be voting for him over Clinton), but this rush to take every single thing he says and cast it in the worst possible light is both tiresome and comical. Like he really was hinting that someone should assassinate Clinton. :smack: It requires little to no effort to cast it in a negative light. The fact that there might be some ambiguity means nothing. If you were to speak in those terms in front of co-workers, you’d have the Secret Service at your door tomorrow morning. That’s probably a pretty good litmus test for whether something is appropriate to say in front of a crowd full of firearms enthusiasts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/177 "2016-08-10T20:23:27Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > This. Don’t forget to include the ending clause of his statement. It makes absolutely clear what his meaning is and refutes efforts to spin it away. How do you figure? Near as I can tell, he ends the statement by literally saying _“that would be a horrible day, if – if Hillary gets to put her judges in.”_ ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/178 "2016-08-10T20:26:43Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > To a degree, yes. But that doesn’t mean that every time people take what you say and put it through the Super-Duper Worst Possible Meaning Translator, that it is expressing reality. Speech that communicates violence as a form of political protest, whether explicitly or implicitly stated, is the lowest form of expression. It deserves absolutely no protection, and it demands condemnation. There is nothing else to say. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/179 "2016-08-10T20:28:02Z")
As a sidebar on this latest outrage, an interesting development in how the media is covering Trump. I’ve noticed several times, most lately on NPR’s coverage of this story, that the reporting on what Trump has said will point out his blatant falsehoods in the body of the story. Not with some link to fact-check, and not with a pair of fair & balanced talking heads arguing both sides…no, they’re flat out calling him a liar. Example: they said Trump “falsely” claimed that Hillary wants to repeal the 2nd Amendment, and added that the President has no power to do so. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283/180 "2016-08-10T20:31:48Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.” Said Hillary in May of '08, to explain why she remained in the race with obamessiah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-winks-and-nods-to-the-second-amendment-people/762283.md?page=10)