Trump Says Maybe '2nd Amendment People' Can Stop Clinton's Supreme Court Picks
— -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump raised eyebrows Tuesday when he suggested there is "nothing" that can be done to stop Hillary Clinton's Supreme Court picks, except "maybe" the "Second Amendment people."
"Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment," Trump said to the crowd of supporters gathered in the Trask Coliseum at North Carolina University in Wilmington. "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks.
"Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."
After the speech, Clinton's campaign seized on the remarks.
"This is simple — what Trump is saying is dangerous," read a statement from campaign manager Robby Mook. "A person seeking to be president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way."
ABC News reached out to the Secret Service for response to Trump's comment, and the agency said it was aware of the remarks.
The Trump campaign insisted the candidate's words referred to the power of "Second Amendment people" to unify.
"It's called the power of unification — 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power," read a statement, titled "Trump Campaign Statement Against Dishonest Media," from senior communications adviser Jason Miller.
In a tweet Tuesday night, Trump tried to explain his remarks.
And in an interview with Fox News Tuesday night, Trump told the network: "This is a strong, powerful movement, the Second Amendment" and called the NRA "terrific people."
"There can be no other interpretation," he said of his earlier remarks. "I mean, give me a break."
Trump's running mate Mike Pence rose to the candidate's defense and said Trump was not insinuating that there should be violence against Clinton.
"Donald Trump is clearly saying is that people who cherish that right, who believe that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens makes our communities more safe, not less safe, should be involved in the political process and let their voice be heard," Pence said today in an interview with NBC10, a local Philadelphia TV station.
Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine told reporters today in Trump's comments "revealed this complete temperamental misfit with the character that’s required to do the job and in a nation."
"We gotta be pulling together and countenancing violence is not something any leader should do," Kaine said.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who led a 15-hour filibuster in June to force a vote on gun control measures, took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with Trump's comments.
"This isn't play," wrote Murphy. "Unstable people with powerful guns and an unhinged hatred for Hillary are listening to you, @realDonaldTrump."
And Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who wrote in a tweet that because he believed Trump "suggested someone kill Sec. Clinton," called for a Secret Service investigation.
