Last week in Houston, and over the weekend in Phoenix, Donald Trump seemed to suggest that the slain revelers in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, should have been armed. "If some of those wonderful people had guns strapped right here — right to their waist or right to their ankle — and one of the people in that room happened to have it and goes 'boom, boom,' you know, that would have been a beautiful sight, folks," Trump said in Houston. Here's how he put it in Phoenix:
On Monday, he issued a clarification on Twitter, saying he "obviously" was referring to "additional guards or employees."
Coincidentally, the NRA's top officials had disagreed with Trump's perceived earlier meaning on the Sunday talk shows. "No one thinks that people should go into a nightclub drinking and carrying firearms," Chris Cox, the NRA's top lobbyist, said on CBS' Face the Nation. "That defies common sense. It also defies the law." Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, agreed on ABC's This Week: "I don't think you should have firearms where people are drinking."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
‘The nonviolence resulted from the organizers’ message’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footage
Speed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East Wing
Speed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
