The Guide: ‘Nothing you can do, folks’ | McClatchy Washington Bureau

The latest outrage in the 2016 presidential election has the bombastic Republican nominee dancing on the defensive, and has some members of the GOP wondering whether anything can be done to reign in Donald Trump.

Trump served up fresh controversy Tuesday when he appeared to suggest that gun owners become full-on vigilantes and assassinate Hillary Clinton if she wins the White House and tries to appoint Supreme Court judges who favor stricter gun control laws.

The appearance at a rally in Wilmington, N.C., renewed Republican fears that Trump can’t help but sabotage himself. The GOP’s nominee told rally attendees that if Clinton is elected and is able to pick Supreme Court judges, there’s “nothing you can do, folks.” He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”

Amid the resulting firestorm, Trump’s campaign tweeted:

Clinton’s campaign wasn’t buying it:

Possible assassination incitement aside (a phrase no one could see coming), is there any truth to what he said about Clinton wanting to abolish the Second Amendment true? No. It’s complete B.S.

▪  Thomas Friedman: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated.

▪  Why gun owners should reject Trump’s call to “Second Amendment People.”

There are still 90 days until the polls open across the nation. Seems like a lot, right?

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