What did you think of Trump's comments yesterday? Is it inciting violence? A joke? Misinterpreted statement? If you are a gun owner, are you offended by this characterization?
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It's frightening. That is not something that should be said publicly. I don't care if it was a joke, it was not appropriate and dangerous.
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I think this is Trump's MO -- say something outrageous and then backtrack once he's called out. I don't think it was misinterpreted at all. He's disgusting.
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I read this tweet that I think sums it up: It's unclear what Trump meant. But presidential candidates don't usually leave it unclear whether they're hinting at assassination.
It's ridiculous. He's a petty disgusting horror show of a human being and the fact that he's gotten this far and still has support is appalling. I don't care how conservative you are, the idea of this man running the United States should be untenable.
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He's disgusting. Imagine the outrage if Obama said something like that. Yet Hillary is the "crooked" one 🙄
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Well, what can I say? The chickens are coming home to roost for the US government, and especially the republican party. They've been sowing the wind for a long time, and now they're reaping the whirlwind.
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It doesn't matter if it's a joke - such a bullshit response. Some people don't interpret words that way - let's look at what happened to Israeli Prime Minister Rabin. (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/opinion/trumps-ambiguous-wink-wink-to-second-amendment-people.html?_r=0)
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I think it's really scary. I personally am anti-gun and in favor of stricter gun laws, however I respect people who feel differently and acknowledge things look different from different perspectives. I think gun owners should be horrified and offended at the suggestion they would have violent intentions for any reason.
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This is just crazy. That is all.
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This is beyond the pale I feel for an American (wannabe) politician. We dont not incite the death of a political rival, we do not invite a hostile foreign government to hack our government to gain points in the polls. This is an atrocity on our morals and values and a disgrace in how we represent ourselves as a country in this world. You dont have to like your opponent but then just win, win by swaying voters to your side with your policy, presence, and promises. This is America, you cant not call for assassination because you are losing.
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Sadly, everything he says is okay with most of his supporters. If an email from Hillary said "Shoot Donald Trump" was leaked.... imagine the outrage. He's such a joke.
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Dan Rather had a really good response. I haven't shared much on FB this election even though I feel strongly. But I shared Rather's comments today. It encourages me to see so many people finally turning on him but so many others haven't. Scary times.
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Trump is a disgrace. I feel like every day he does or says something that makes my jaw drop. Every time I think it can't get worse, it does.
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I like this (short) Rolling Stone piece which talks about (and defines) the idea of Stochastic Terrorism and discusses Trump’s statement.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trumps-assassination-dog-whistle-was-scarier-than-you-think-w433615Would the people who support Trump’s use of the phrase still support its meaning (or argue it’s a joke, so NBD) if you turn the phrase this way: Police brutality is out of control and there’s nothing you can do, folks. Although the 2nd Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.
What is the language calling for / what makes “2nd Amendment people” different from just “people” or “conservatives” or “republicans” – or even just saying “YOU” (to the crowd he was speaking to)? Not their ideals, or power to come together for political change. It’s guns and gun violence to seek an outcome.
Words have powerful meaning, especially when years (decades at this point) have been spent demonizing and tearing apart and defining as “other” and “evil/dangerous” the person towards whom the violence is suggested.
This is beyond the pale of what should be tolerated in a normal, civilized, first-world society. Of course, it will make no difference to his supporters.
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I do think it was a joke (in bad taste) that a gun carrying American could take her out. I also don't think it was even slightly appropriate. And I think it's rediculous that he never apologizes and always pretends everyone else is crazy for hearing what he clearly said. It isn't the media that called him out to begin with- it was people listening to him and comment on Twitter.
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He's a disgusting human being and the fact that his supporters just continue to plug their ears and sing as loud as they can so they can't hear what he's really saying is depressing.
Every time a new Republican comes forward and denounces Donald Trump, I feel a sense of pride in our country. And then he does another outrageous thing and he gets defended for it and it just reminds me of how far our country has yet to come.
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Completely inappropriate and dangerous. I thought his Russia comments were inappropriate but I don't think Trumps comments would have any influence on their actions. This comment though was directly to some very devoted followers, which I think takes it to the dangerous level.
I tried to read to see if there was any defense and the article in Breitbart was just scary. It talked about how protecting the 2nd amendment and being armed citizens is a defensive action, I'm sorry but that's still a call to violence.
The only argument I saw was that Clinton made really nasty comments in 2008 about Obama. They made me gasp out loud. But she got torn apart for them, lots of bad press even from liberals and her campaign was basically over at that point but was really really done after those comments. And that's what should happen here, it should really push him to not be a viable candidate.
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I don't care what the intent was, it was just another comment showing how unpresidential he is. He is classless and has never opened his mouth and sounded presidential.
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It's disgraceful that this kind of rhetoric is becoming less and less shocking. I fear for future elections given how low the discourse has gone this year and I worry for our kids who may grow up thinking this is acceptable.
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He's like the guy who yells FIRE in a crowded theater (except you'd get arrested for that) and then afterwards saying that you can't take a joke*
*He OBVIOUSLY didn't mean that ALL Mexican immigrants are rapists/drug dealers, just the illegals, geez!
*He very clearly DID NOT say that Megyn Kelly was having her period, he just meant she had a nosebleed! How dare you suggest that he suggested such a dirty thing!
*He's not suggesting a second amendment gun nut assassinate Hillary Clinton, he OBVIOUSLY just meant they're a powerful voting bloc!
Man, John Boehner has to just be laughing his ass off into a bottle of scotch right now having gotten the hell out when he did. Or crying about what his party's become. I know I want to, and I'm a strong liberal.
I keep hoping he's just going to SYKE us all, but now I'm just praying that he doesn't get anywhere close to the White House. And as much as I really want to plug my ears and close my eyes to him, I think it's important to know just how vile he (and his supporters) are.
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He's disgusting. This is the worst election period ever. He's a freaking 5 year old. I can just see it now - as he watches his poll numbers drop, he will drop out of the race. It's bound to happen.
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He doesn't really want to kill Hillary. He is totally reckless and irresponsible with what he says all.the.time. This latest episode is why people say he lacks the temperment and self-discipline to be President.
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@yoursilverlining: very interesting article.
It's absolutely appalling. Every week he manages to say something more vile than the previous week. I want to know when the republican establishment (Ryan, McCain, McConnell and co.) will finally denounce him and retract their support. To not denounce Trump is to support him and everything he stands for.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I agree, but not every person on the planet thinks in the same way that you and I do.
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@mediagirl: I hope so!! I am looking forward to election day and watching him get crushed. We all need to vote!!
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He's disgusting and the comments were beyond the pale. I really don't understand how anyone can support him.
For all of you who live in states with republican governance, I urge you to write to your congressperson, senator and governor and let them know your thoughts. Perhaps if those politicians knew that people would support them if they decided to denounce Trump, more of them would.
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I think this just exemplifies that he says whatever comes to mind without thinking and will back track later. I'm wondering if any of his supporters (I know there are a few here!) are concerned about this. Does it make you think he might back track on policy? Or is it just rhetoric?
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@jedeve: my parents (heaven help me) think he's saying all this just for publicity, doesn't mean any of it, and is really a smart guy with leadership potential. I don't deny he's smart, the way a successful robber is smart. But voting for someone because "he doesn't really mean what he says?" Umm, what? What are you voting for, then?
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@looch: and I sure hope the Secret Service investigates him just as they would any nut case that said something like that about a presidential nominee. At some point he has to be held accountable for what comes out of his mouth.
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I'm hoping that he keeps making really awful statements like this so that more and more people realize that he is a maniac and should not be elected president.
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Does anyone else secretly think his whole campaign is a hoax? That Hilary had such poor popularity that the only way she could win was if she was running against a completely crazy person? And now that he has the nomination he is turning up the crazy to ensure that he doesn't actually win?
This cannot be for real.
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I think gun violence is a serious matter in this country and not something to joke about (see responses to his comments from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's daughter and the daughter of the principal killed in the Sandy Hook shooting). I also particularly like this response:
"Words matter, particularly from those folks who want to be president of the United States. To think that joking about any kind of violence could be funny ... simply reflects a disregard for the impact of violence." Christine Quinn, a former New York City Council speaker.
@Mrs. Lion: And yes, I keep telling my friends I think he's just trolling us all. Every last one of us.
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@Mrs. Lion: that would be crazy, but I've read their daughters are great buddies, so who knows! And on that note... I would love to be a fly on the wall in a phone call between Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump after the latest remarks. I mean, how do you explain that your dad said that about your friend's mom?
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@NorCalWayfarer: @Mama Bird: Maybe I watch too much Scandal, but this is literally the only scenerio that I can wrap my brain around.
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I saw this on Facebook today and I think it does a good job of explaining why "just a joke" doesn't make his comments in any way acceptable for anyone, much less the president.
"Twitterstorm by a smart guy taking down the idea that 'only joking' means you're off the hook for menacing and violent language. Share away. I think it's really important for removing Trump's and anyone else's excuses. Words have power, including the power to harm, and to incite others to harm, as we saw with Sarah Palin's hate speech before Gabby Giffords was shot...... Thank you Jason Steed. He writes:
I wrote my PhD dissertation on the social function of humor (in literature & film) and here's the thing about "just joking."
You're never "just joking." Nobody is ever "just joking." Humor is a social act that performs a social function (always).
To say humor is social act is to say it is always in social context; we don't joke alone. Humor is a way we relate/interact with others.
Which is to say, humor is a way we construct identity - who we are in relation to others. We use humor to form groups and to find our individual place in or out of those groups. In short, joking/humor is one tool by which we assimilate or alienate.
IOW, we use humor to bring people into - or keep them out of - our social groups. This is what humor *does.* What it's for.
Consequently, how we use humor is tied up with ethics - who do we embrace, who do we shun, and how/why?
And the assimilating/alienating function of humor works not only only people but also on *ideas.* This is important.
This is why, e.g., racist "jokes" are bad. Not just because they serve to alienate certain people, but also because they serve to assimilate the idea of racism (the idea of alienating people based on their race). And so we come to Trump.
A racist joke sends a message to the in-group that racism is acceptable. (If you don't find it acceptable, you're in the out-group.)
The racist joke teller might say "just joking" - but this is a *defense* to the out-group. He doesn't have to say this to the in-group. This is why we're never "just joking." To the in-group, no defense of the joke is needed; the idea conveyed is accepted/acceptable.
So, when Trump jokes about assassination or armed revolt, he's asking the in-group to assimilate/accept that idea. That's what jokes do. And when he says "just joking," that's a defense offered to the out-group who was never meant to assimilate the idea in the first place.
Indeed, circling back to the start, the joke *itself* is a way to define in-group and out-group, through assimilation & alienation. If you're willing to accept "just joking" as defense, you're willing to enter in-group where idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable. IOW, if "just joking" excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted idea of racism as part of being in-group.
Same goes for "jokes" about armed revolt or assassinating Hillary Clinton. They cannot be accepted as "just joking."
Now, a big caveat: humor (like all language) is complicated and always a matter of interpretation. For example, we might have racist humor that is, in fact, designed to alienate (rather than assimilate) the idea of racism. (Think satire or parody.)
But I think it's pretty clear Trump was not engaging in some complex satirical form of humor. He was "just joking." In the worst sense.
Bottom line: don't accept "just joking" as excuse for what Trump said today. The in-group for that joke should be tiny. Like his hands.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016" -
@Mrs. Lion: that was my theory for a very long time.
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The entire world is in shock that Americans actually selected Trump as the republican nominee. Nothing he says surprises me because he is ignorant about everything
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@mediagirl: I keep saying the same thing- that he's like a twelve year old boy... Yet most 12 year olds I know are way more tolerable than he is. He throws tantrums and is defensive like a two year old.
I'm curious as a fellow conservative who might be getting your vote? I feel so very conflicted this election.
I even voted democratic in the primaries! -
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I just read this -- of course Trump tweeted (his favorite mode of communication 🙄) that no conversation happened. But I tend to believe the secret service, and just about anyone, over trump.
Secret Service spoke to Trump campaign about 2nd Amendment comment - CNNPolitics.com - http://www.cnn.com
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/trump-second-amendment/index.html?campaign_id=A100&campaign_type=Email -
@MrsSCB: I just don't understand how Trump supporters can say "Never Hillary -- she's a liar, she's crooked", yet continue to support Trump who has been proven to be a liar over and over and over again.
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47 comments