Donald Trump's statement that "Second Amendment people" could stop Hillary Clinton was a "dumb remark" and he should take it back, but it is wrong to suggest he was encouraging people to assassinate his Democratic rival or use violence, Rep. Pete King insisted Wednesday, and he still supports his fellow New Yorker.
"I think he was just saying a dumb remark, it was as simple as that," King told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "Was he negligent in saying it? Absolutely, he should take it back."
At the same time, King said, the media has overplayed the comment, and he finds the "anti-police" sentiments from the Democratic National Convention much more disqualifying for Clinton.
"I interpreted it as something a guy says over the shoulder. It was wrong. He shouldn't have said it," King said. "I don't think he even fully appreciated what he was saying . . . That was not a contrived plan like the Democrats and Hillary Clinton did in having anti-police people on the stage."
King argued that as a relative of several law enforcement officers, he found the sentiment during the convention disturbing, but "Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough both accused him of "deflecting" from the topic, sparking a heated argument between the congressman and the hosts, particularly with Brzezinski.
"Do you really think he was urging people to kill Hillary Clinton? Do you really believe that? No. I think it was just a dumb remark. It was as simple as that," King said. "I think you're reading far too much into it. Are you saying he was negligent in saying it? Absolutely. He should take it back, make it clear he's taking it back."
Brzezinski, a Democrat who strongly opposes the Trump candidacy, demanded of King if he still thought Trump is "fit to be president temperamentally."
King responded that he thinks of Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, as a friend, not an enemy, but he thinks Trump would be a better president because of his plans for the Supreme Court and his stance on the military.
"He'd be better qualified than Hillary Clinton," King answered, when Scarborough asked him again if Trump has the "temperament" to be president.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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