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Donald Trump Tells N.R.A. Hillary Clinton Wants to Let Violent Criminals Go Free Donald Trump Tells N.R.A. Hillary Clinton Wants to Let Violent Criminals Go Free
(about 5 hours later)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Donald J. Trump called on Friday for an end to gun-free zones in the United States and accused Hillary Clinton of seeking to let violent criminals out of prison, putting law-abiding citizens at risk, as he accepted the endorsement of the National Rifle Association at its annual convention. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Donald J. Trump accused Hillary Clinton on Friday of wanting to let violent criminals out of prison and “disarm” law-abiding citizens in unsafe neighborhoods, and warned that women, in particular, would be at greater risk if she were elected president.
Mr. Trump said that the November election would be a referendum on the Second Amendment and asserted that Mrs. Clinton, his likely Democratic opponent, wanted to abolish the right to bear arms. Accepting the endorsement of the National Rifle Association at its annual convention here, Mr. Trump — who has not always been the staunchest opponent of stricter gun controls — said the November election would be a referendum on the Second Amendment. He claimed, hyperbolically, that Mrs. Clinton, his likely Democratic opponent, “wants to take away your guns.”
“Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office,” he said at the N.R.A.’s convention here. “She wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take away your guns.” “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office,” he said.
Although Mrs. Clinton has called for tightening restrictions on guns, she has not called for overturning the Second Amendment. Mrs. Clinton has called for tightened restrictions on guns, but not for abolishing the right to own them.
In a speech that was filled with red meat for conservatives, Mr. Trump denounced the Obama administration on several counts and struck some of his favorite themes, including his promise to build a wall along the border with Mexico and to tighten immigration laws. He also again urged Senator Bernie Sanders, Mrs. Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, to embark on an independent bid. Mr. Trump, whose record of sexist remarks, among other things, has left him at a potentially crippling disadvantage among female voters, polls show, appealed directly to women in his speech, imbuing his defense of gun rights with an undercurrent of fear.
But Mr. Trump — who hewed closely to written notes while regaling the audience with more characteristically freewheeling riffs for much of his roughly 30-minute speech — reserved his most scathing criticism for his likely Democratic rival. He warned that if Mrs. Clinton were elected the country would be a dangerous place with “violent criminals” roaming the streets and “innocent Americans at risk.” “In trying to overturn the Second Amendment, Hillary Clinton is telling everyone — and every woman living in a dangerous community — that she doesn’t have the right to defend herself,” Mr. Trump said. “So you have a woman living in a community, a rough community, a bad community — sorry, you can’t defend yourself.”
“Hillary wants to disarm vulnerable Americans in high-crime neighborhoods,” Mr. Trump said. “This is the most basic human right of all, but Hillary wants to strip it away and strip it away from women, and all others. Hillary Clinton will release violent criminals from jail, more so than even Obama — she has a more open policy than even Obama, if that’s possible — and put innocent Americans at risk. “ If Mr. Trump’s comments seemed reminiscent of an era when crime rates were far higher — the Willie Horton ads attacking Michael S. Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, in the 1988 presidential race came to mind — they also appeared somewhat at odds with the broad bipartisan consensus on the need to reduce incarceration rates and prison populations: Mr. Trump sought to frighten voters about the idea of criminals being released from prison.
“I’m going to put criminals behind bars and guarantee that law-abiding Americans have the right to self-defense,” he added. He said Mrs. Clinton’s agenda was “to release the violent criminals from jail,” freeing them to roam the streets and put “innocent Americans at risk.”
Mr. Trump also unveiled a new moniker for Mrs. Clinton — “heartless Hillary” — and said that her policies on guns and criminal justice would make women, in particular, less safe. He said her agenda was “to release the violent criminals from jail.” He even tried out a new epithet for Mrs. Clinton: “heartless Hillary.”
“She wants them all released,” he said. “She wants people released that you wouldn’t want to walk on the street with, you wouldn’t want to look at.” Calling Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, “heartless hypocrites,” he dared them to “let their bodyguards immediately disarm,” an apparent reference to their Secret Service protection.
Mr. Trump said in January that he wanted to end gun-free zones in schools. Veering from his prepared remarks Friday afternoon, though, he went further, suggesting that they should be done away with entirely.
“We’re getting rid of gun-free zones,” he said, arguing that more guns would mean less gun violence, as his audience cheered.
Mr. Trump has changed his views on gun rights over the years. In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve,” he said he “generally” opposed gun control, but wrote, “I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.”
He was also critical of the N.R.A.’s outsized influence on the Republican Party. “The Republicans walk the N.R.A. line and refuse even limited restrictions,” he wrote.
Dan Kelsey, 57, an I.T. consultant and N.R.A. member from Columbus, Ohio, said he was not excited about Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton and was worried that Mr. Trump might shift his position on the Second Amendment.
“He talks a good game, but I’m not sure what his core values are,” said Mr. Kelsey, who added that Mr. Trump was not his first, second or even third choice for the Republican nomination. “He’s a good entertainer and marketer, but I don’t know what he really believes.”
The Secret Service prevented attendees from bringing in knives and guns — ordinarily commonplace accessories at the convention — into the hall where Mr. Trump was speaking, prompting some grumbling.
But Mrs. Clinton proved a useful foil for Mr. Trump, who needs to shore up the support of the group’s more than 5 million members, and that of other gun-rights supporters, especially in the Rust Belt states that he will need to carry to win the White House.
Officially throwing the N.R.A.’s support to Mr. Trump, Chris W. Cox, executive director of the group’s political and lobbying arm, warned that Mrs. Clinton would appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court who would roll back gun rights. “We have to unite and we have to unite right now,” Mr. Cox said.
(He also played a clip of Mrs. Clinton talking about the Second Amendment, but not before “accidentally” playing a video showing Mrs. Clinton barking like a dog.)
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees, seeking to reassure conservatives that he would appoint strict interpreters of the Constitutional. Before the N.R.A., he called on Mrs. Clinton to release her own such list, saying it would be as different from his as “day and night.”
“It will not be good for the people in this room, and it will not be good for the people of country,” Mr. Trump said.
Calling Mrs. Clinton and her husband “heartless hypocrites” who wanted to deny people their guns, he also challenged them to “let their bodyguards immediately disarm,” an apparent reference to their Secret Service protection.
“Let’s see how good they do,” Mr. Trump said. “Let’s see how they feel walking around without their guns and their bodyguards. In the meantime, nobody else can have the guns, right?”“Let’s see how good they do,” Mr. Trump said. “Let’s see how they feel walking around without their guns and their bodyguards. In the meantime, nobody else can have the guns, right?”
Since announcing his presidential bid, Mr. Trump — who himself has a concealed carry permit and whose two oldest sons are avid hunters — has fashioned himself a fierce advocate of gun rights. He released a policy paper on the Second Amendment, called for making concealed carry permits valid in all 50 states, and routinely tells his audiences, as he did again here on Friday, that terrorist attacks, like those in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., might be prevented if more people were armed. Mr. Trump’s efforts to shore up his support among the N.R.A.’s more than five million members could help him in the Rust Belt states that he would need to carry to win the White House. But Mrs. Clinton must strike a more delicate balance on the issue: In the Democratic primaries against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has a mixed record on gun control, she has taken an aggressive tack against firearm manufacturers and sellers.
For some, Mr. Trump’s promises to support the Second Amendment were reassurance enough. Dianne Jennings, 67, a certified N.R.A. pistol instructor from Dayton, Ohio, said she had “nothing nice to say” about Mrs. Clinton. “Basically, I detest her,” she added. In a general election contest with Mr. Trump, however, Mrs. Clinton would vie with him for the loyalties of white voters in a number of battleground states where support for gun rights runs deep. Indeed, in recent weeks, as she campaigned before largely white, working-class audiences in Appalachian and Great Lakes states, she has de-emphasized gun control and focused more on job creation and economic aid for financially struggling communities.
Ms. Jennings said that she found Mr. Trump “entertaining” and “not politically correct,” and that she thought he would do a good job as president. But on Saturday, Mrs. Clinton will speak at a dinner of the Trayvon Martin Foundation’s “Circle of Mothers” in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a group offering support to women who have lost a child to gun violence. And she is expected to press the issue to win over voters in Los Angeles, Oakland and other California cities before that state’s primary on June 7.
“I think people are just terrified of his persona,” she said, “but I think he has a lot of different personas and he can use the right one in the right situation.” Maya Harris, a senior policy adviser to Mrs. Clinton, dismissed Mr. Trump’s attacks on Friday, saying he was “peddling falsehoods.”
“Along with the vast majority of Americans, Hillary Clinton believes there are common-sense steps we can take at the federal level to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while respecting the Second Amendment,” Ms. Harris said.
Since announcing his presidential bid, Mr. Trump — who himself has a concealed carry permit and whose two oldest sons are avid hunters — has fashioned himself a fierce advocate of gun rights. He has released a policy paper on the Second Amendment, has called for making concealed carry permits valid in all 50 states and routinely tells his audiences, as he did again here on Friday, that terrorist attacks like those last year in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., might have been prevented if more people were armed.
But his support for gun rights has not always been so absolutist.
In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve,” he wrote that he “generally” opposed gun control, but criticized the N.R.A.’s outsized lobbying power, saying, “I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.”
After President Obama spoke in 2012 at a vigil for those killed in the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter: “President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown, Connecticut.”
On Friday, however, Mr. Trump took his support for gun rights an additional step. In January, he said he wanted to end gun-free zones in schools. In his speech here, he said he wanted to do away with them entirely.
“We’re getting rid of gun-free zones,” he said, arguing that more guns would mean less gun violence, as his audience cheered.
Officially throwing the N.R.A.’s support to Mr. Trump, Chris W. Cox, executive director of the group’s political and lobbying arm, warned that Mrs. Clinton would appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court who would roll back gun rights.
“We have to unite and we have to unite right now,” Mr. Cox said. (He also played a clip of Mrs. Clinton talking about the Second Amendment, but not before “accidentally” playing a video showing Mrs. Clinton barking like a dog.)
The Secret Service prevented attendees from bringing knives and guns — ordinarily commonplace accessories at the convention — into the hall where Mr. Trump was speaking, prompting some grumbling.
There was also some grumbling about the presidential campaign, despite the N.R.A.’s endorsement.
Dan Kelsey, 57, an I.T. consultant and N.R.A. member from Columbus, Ohio, said he was not excited about Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton, and was worried that Mr. Trump might shift his position on the Second Amendment.
“He talks a good game, but I’m not sure what his core values are,” Mr. Kelsey said. “He’s a good entertainer and marketer, but I don’t know what he really believes.”
Yet to other members of the group, Mr. Trump’s promises to support the Second Amendment were reassurance enough.
Dianne Jennings, 67, a certified N.R.A. pistol instructor from Dayton, Ohio, said she had “nothing nice to say” about Mrs. Clinton: “Basically, I detest her.”
Ms. Jennings said that she found Mr. Trump “entertaining” and “not politically correct” and that she thought he would do a good job as president.
“I think people are just terrified of his persona, but I think he has a lot of different personas,” she said, “and he can use the right one in the right situation.”