Once again, Donald Trump goes lower than anyone expects he could have—and leaves the rest of us nearly speechless.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know.”
There's no way to interpret this other than as a reference to assassination—whether the target is supposed to be his political opponent or the judges she may pick. And while Trump supporters will no doubt claim it was merely Donald Trump "joking" about assassinating a potential American president, that is not something that is ever, ever supposed to be "joked" about.
Politically motivated murder is not unheard of in this country or in others—not even in the last few years. A man began murdering people in a Planned Parenthood clinic late last year after conservative figures spread the fabricated story that the group was engaged in "selling baby parts.” A splinter group of the Bundy Ranch would-be militia executed two police officers in an attempt to start a Second Amendment-backed "revolution." In Britain, a member of parliament was assassinated in the run-up to the "Brexit" vote as a direct result of her anti-Brexit stance. We do not even "joke" about murdering political opponents because there are always, always people in the population who will take it as justification for doing precisely that.
And there's no indication that Trump was joking. The campaign quickly blasted out a damage control statement supposing that Trump meant to say that "2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit,” which is nowhere near what Trump blurted. And even before he said it, the crowd was primed for such talk. We've moved past even Chris Christie's show trials, or rally chants of lock her up.
This is not a normal campaign. Donald Trump is not a normal candidate. This is something different, and very dangerous.