| | | | Trump rouses 'Second Amendment people' against Clinton | | Did Donald Trump suggest using guns to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing Supreme Court justices? Here's what he said today in Wilmington, North Carolina: "Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know. But I'll tell you what, that will be a horrible day."
What did Trump mean? Running mate Mike Pence was asked by WCAU in Philadelphia if Trump was inciting violence. He said: "Of course not, no. Donald Trump is urging people around this country to act in a manner consistent with their convictions in the course of this election, and people who cherish the Second Amendment have a very clear choice in this election."
But others took it as a threat of violence: | | How bad was Trump's remark? "If someone else would've said that outside the hall, he'd be in the back of a police wagon now with the police questioning him," former CIA and NSA head Michael Hayden told CNN's Jake Tapper.
All this comes as Trump was trying to refocus his campaign after a tumultuous week that involved a fight with the Khan family, and then bickering with Republicans over three days of refusing to endorse Paul Ryan and John McCain in their primaries. (Ryan's is today.) If Trump's message discipline was a ticking time bomb, it went off just one day after his major Detroit economic speech. More from CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Stephen Collinson. | | How did Trump's crowd react to his comment? | | From CNN's Jeremy Diamond at the Trump rally: Donald Trump's campaign is saying there's nothing to see here, but several of Trump's own supporters appeared taken aback by Trump's remarks.
One Trump supporter's jaw literally dropped as Trump made the remark. Visibly astonished, the gray-haired man in a red shirt turned to the woman next to him, who also appeared in disbelief. The two then shared a laugh as the man wriggled uncomfortably in his seat.
The woman visible on television screens over Trump's left shoulder, who appeared to be listening attentively and reacting to Trump's words, pursed her lips in silence as Trump made the controversial remark. Another man, in a U.S. Air Force cap visible to Trump's right, simply burst into laughter. | | Clinton has a gun problem, too | | | The father of the Orlando gunman who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub attended a Clinton rally in Florida on Monday. "Hillary Clinton is good for the United States versus Donald Trump, who has no solutions," Seddique Mateen told WPTV. He could clearly be seen standing behind Clinton as she addressed the audience -- though Clinton's campaign didn't realize it at the time. More from CNN's Tami Luhby. | | | A new round of swing state polls -- three from Quinnipiac and three from NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist -- show Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump in four key states: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Iowa. | | Clinton camp says it will play in Arizona, Georgia | | Hillary Clinton's campaign is trying to expand the Democratic map, pumping resources into Arizona and Georgia -- two traditionally right-leaning states where polls have surprisingly showed her with an edge over Donald Trump -- The Washington Post's John Wagner and Ed O'Keefe report.
More on Brooklyn's plans from CNN's Dan Merica: Top officials from Clinton's headquarters held calls with Democratic Party officials in Arizona and Georgia on Monday to discuss six-figure investment in those two states, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the conversations. The source said the investment would be targeted at organizing voters to support all Democratic candidates, including Clinton. Both Arizona and Georgia have Republican senators up for re-election. The conversations signal that Clinton's campaign feels they could win Georgia and Arizona in November with more investment in organizing.
This will be hard. Arizona went to Mitt Romney by 10% in 2012 and John McCain by 9% in 2008; Georgia went to Romney by 8% and McCain by 5%. | | | CNN reporter Gregory Krieg and video producer Jeff Simon look at Donald Trump's verbal tics -- like "many people are saying" -- that allow him to repeat and amplify conspiracy theories and lies by presenting them with dubious caveats. Don't miss the story and the video. | | Next RNC chair: Carly Fiorina? | | Politico's Alex Isenstadt reports: "Carly Fiorina's quiet outreach to state party chairs in recent days has top Republicans speculating that she's laying the groundwork for a Republican National Committee chairmanship bid."
What Fiorina's advisers are doing: Calling state parties, offering Fiorina's personal phone number and connecting her to state chairs. She'll co-host an event in Virginia with Ed Gillespie, the ex-RNC chairman running for governor in 2017, this month. And she'll visit Colorado for an event with (anti-Donald Trump) Rep. Mike Coffman, as well as Louisiana and Michigan. | | First in Nightcap: Bayh blasting Young with Carrier worker | | | Carrier, the Indianapolis air conditioning company that Donald Trump has long targeted for shipping 2,000 jobs to Mexico, is back in a political race. Per CNN's Tom LoBianco: Evan Bayh's Democratic Indiana Senate campaign is putting up a new ad Wednesday with a laid-off Carrier worker blasting GOP candidate Todd Young for taking campaign donations from Carrier's parent company. The ad will go into a $2 million buy on rotation through the middle of August. | | | Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence was upheld today. ... Joe and Jill Biden will travel next week to Belgrade, Serbia and Pristina, Kosovo. ... The RNC is waging a new Clinton-related email fight, this time targeting Bill Clinton's schedules. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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