If all you do is read the stories or the transcripts of what Donald Trump said regarding Hillary Clinton and guns, there surely is some wiggle room in there for interpretation, though not a three-lane highway.
But if you listen to the speech itself, there is no denying what Trump was saying – that those with guns may be the only people who can stop Clinton from appointing anti-gun judges if she’s elected.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Trump said before adding a throw-away line: “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
It was that delivery and that line that has people wondering if Trump has finally crossed The Line. His campaign, in what has now become routine post-comment damage control, tried to spin it that the boss was talking about the “power of unification” to organize the vote against Clinton. But even one of his supporters in the audience clearly understood what Trump was saying, even if it was meant in jest.
Trump delivered the line the way a late night show host would tack on an observation about a world event to add impact. While he may not have been calling for the assassination of his rival, as some Democrats have suggested, he certainly was playing to the cheap seats. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called him out on it and summed up why the statement is dangerous and outrageous.
“This isn’t play,” Murphy, an avid gun control advocate following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, wrote on Twitter. “Unstable people with powerful guns and an unhinged hatred for Hillary are listening to you, @realDonaldTrump.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Trump’s biggest foil after Clinton, jumped on the remarks and hit him where she knows it hurts – his male ego.
“.@realDonaldTrump makes death threats because he’s a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he’s losing to a girl,” she tweeted.
Predictably, Trump is blaming the media. The headline for the campaign press release was “Trump Campaign Statement On Dishonest Media.” But there is no spinning this one and there is no need to feign balance. Whether it was a lame joke or a wink and a nod, Trump made the connection that those with guns will be the only ones able to stop Clinton if she is elected and appointing judges. He has to own that.
While outrage among gun safety advocates and Democrats is in high gear, response from his supporters and other Republicans has been muted. “What he meant” – which is fast becoming the campaign’s new motto – was trotted out by supporters such as Sen. Jeff Sessions, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Trump’s running mate Mike Pence to explain away the unexplainable.
The National Rifle Association came to Trump’s defense, saying he was right but saying he was clearly talking about mobilizing the vote. House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose chilly relationship with Trump is becoming more and more tense despite the two endorsing one another, said it sounded like “a joke gone bad.”
“You should never joke about that,” Ryan said after winning his reelection primary in Wisconsin. “I hope he clears it up quickly.”
But is this The Line that he must cross before his support dissipates? And how many times has that been asked? It was almost exactly a year ago that Trump made his comment about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly that she had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Since then, there has been a constant flow of insults, outrageous statements, outright falsehoods, and thinly veiled racial attacks. And each time, stunned observers ask, “is this The Line?”
“What he said on Tuesday is something Donald Trump does every day of his life, on purpose, as a matter of policy and a perfect expression of everything he stands for,” Charlie Pierce writes in Esquire. “If that isn’t The Line, then what in the hell is The Line? Actually doing it?”
Maybe it’s fatigue from constantly having to answer questions about the presidential candidate who sucks every last bit of oxygen out of the room, but there’s not much else coming out from those Republicans who don’t know what to do with this loose cannon.
JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
Gov. Charlie Baker stands by Kimberly Budd, his Supreme Judicial Court nominee, in the face of opposition from a Republican legislator. (Masslive)
Baker plans to veto the section of a bridge and highway funding bill calling for a pilot study of a vehicle-miles-traveled tax that backers say could replace the gas tax and represents a fairer way to pay for roadway infrastructure costs. (State House News) A Herald editorial applauds Baker’s planned move.
Ralph Whitehead says Paul Levy missed the mark with his critique of Senate President Stan Rosenberg. (CommonWealth)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
A $1.6 million grant from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute will enable three western Massachusetts communities to get high-speed internet service. (Berkshire Eagle)
The CEO of a Haverhill-based solar firm sharply rebukes the city council for falsely suggesting one of his employees had been found guilty of securities fraud and using that as the rationale for cancelling a contract to put solar arrays on a school roof. (Eagle-Tribune)
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch is considering hiring an Arabic-speaking police officer in light of the increasing number of Arabic residents and visitors in the city. (Patriot Ledger)
New Bedford health officials are pushing for a ban on synthetic drugs such as “spice” and bath salts, which continue to be sold at some retail stores and gas stations in the city. (Standard-Times)
ELECTIONS
The declaration by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that she will not vote for her party’s presidential nominee is putting the squeeze on fellow New England Republican senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who has thus far stuck to her puzzling position that she supports Donald Trump but is not endorsing him. (Boston Globe)
Susan Bryant of North Reading pleads not guilty to defacing signs supporting Trump at the Andover home of Arthur Gonsalves, but it doesn’t look good for her. Gonsalves caught her on tape spray-painting over his sign and turning a US flag on the sign upside down. Bryant’s lawyer says she acted impulsively and regrets it. (Eagle-Tribune)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The Conservation Law Foundation plans to challenge a developer’s plan to build a 22-story condo tower on the South Boston waterfront, arguing it improperly limits public access to the shoreline. (Boston Globe)
In an effort to goose summer sales, retailers are promoting big savings in place of a sales tax holiday that lawmakers did not approve this year. (Boston Globe)
A European company that uses sidewalk robots to make deliveries to customers will take a test run in Washington, DC. (Governing)
Members of the upscale New Seabury Country Club have reached an agreement with the management that forestalls some, though not all, of the legal action pending against the club over its post-bankruptcy membership fees. (Cape Cod Times)
EDUCATION
How Boston is trying to bring black and Latino teens back to school. (WBUR)
The Lowell City Council tries to mend fences with UMass Lowell after a rocky period. (Lowell Sun)
George Daley, a prominent stem cell researcher, will be the new dean of Harvard Medical School. (STAT)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Union members want more meetings and more transparency in the planned hospital merger between SouthCoast Health and Rhode Island-based Care New England. (Standard-Times)
TRANSPORTATION
You can now book an Uber ride in advance. (Boston Globe)
A new train platform at Union Station in Springfield has to be widened 6 inches to comply with the Americans with Disability Act. State funds will be used to cover the $5 million cost of the change order. (Masslive)
Searchers recovered the “black box” from the sunken cargo ship El Faro, that went down in a hurricane last year with several Massachusetts crewmen on board. (Cape Cod Times)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The drought is so severe that the Ipswich River is drying up and wildlife that rely on the water are dying. (Salem News) In Shrewsbury, drinking water is discolored because of the drought. (Telegram & Gazette)
For the second straight year, gas prices are expected to drop below $2 a gallon by Labor Day, according to forecasts from federal energy officials. (U.S. News & World Report)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
A new Justice Department report indicates Baltimore Police routinely violate civil rights. (Baltimore Sun)
Clergy and members of a youth violence reduction task force speak out against Boston police unions’ call to equip officers with assault rifles and added armor. (Boston Herald)
Police have received hundreds of tips in the slaying of a 27-year-old woman in Princeton, but they’re asking for more. (Telegram & Gazette)
Hingham police say a registered Level 3 sex offender followed an elderly woman home from a produce market then hid in the house before attempting to rape her. (Patriot Ledger)
MEDIA
The Toronto Star cuts 52 employees, most of them working on the newspaper’s tablet edition. (Globe and Mail)
Brockton will serve as a body-double for Detroit for an as-yet-named movie set against a backdrop of looting during the 1967 race riots in the Motor City. (The Enterprise)
PASSINGS
Robert Kiley, who held a series of public posts, including deputy mayor under Kevin White, but was most known as public transit guru, managing subway systems in Boston, New York, and London, died on Martha’s Vineyard at age 80. (New York Times)