Rep. King: Trump should 'absolutely' take back Second Amendment remark

Rep. Peter King said Donald Trump should “absolutely” take back the comment he made at a Tuesday rally suggesting that “Second Amendment people” might be the only group capable of stopping Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal judges if she’s elected.

But King (R-N.Y.) also said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the media had overplayed Trump’s comments and dismissed the notion that they were somehow disqualifying for the Manhattan billionaire’s White House bid. Instead, the New York congressman compared Trump’s remarks with the Democratic National Convention, which he said was much more disqualifying because it spotlighted “anti-police people” and the mothers of black Americans killed by law enforcement officers.


“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. Again, that was a mistake in comment. That was not a contrived plan like the Democrats and Hillary Clinton did in having anti-police people on the stage.”

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough both accused King of “deflecting” by bringing up the Democratic convention, to which King replied that he was only trying to place Trump’s comments in context. The congressman said he was not appearing on the show “as a Trump apologist” and defended his own record of opposing the reality TV star on some of his most controversial stances. But King was also unwilling to take Trump’s comments as anything more than a poorly conceived, off-the-cuff aside.

“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 finished the interview by asking King if he thought, in light of Trump’s most recent comments, that the GOP nominee “is fit to be president temperamentally?” King responded that he is “not an enemy of Hillary Clinton” and considers her a friend, but that Trump would be a better president because of his positions on the Supreme Court, police and rebuilding the military.

“Do you think he has the temperament to be commander in chief?” Scarborough asked, seeking a clearer answer.

“He'd be better qualified than Hillary Clinton,” the congressman responded.

“Do you think he has the temperament to be commander in chief?” Scarborough asked again.

“Yes, I do,” King said.