The daughter of late former President Ronald Reagan issued a powerful response to Donald Trump's controversial "Second Amendment" quip — and her words are going viral.
In a Facebook post published Wednesday night, Patti Davis called Trump’s comments about the Second Amendment and opponent Hillary Clinton “glib and horrifying,” saying that his words were heard by both sane people and those who only needed a push to commit an act of violence.
“I am the daughter of a man who was shot by someone who got his inspiration from a movie,” Davis wrote.
Reagan, who served as president from 1981 to 1989, survived an attempted assassination just a few months into his presidency.
In March of 1981, Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr., a mentally ill man who believed that assassinating a president would impress actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley Jr. had apparently been inspired by Robert De Niro's character in the movie Taxi Driver, who plans to assassinate a senator.
“Yes, Mr. Trump, words matter,” Davis wrote.
The post was in response to comments Trump made Tuesday insinuating that supporters of gun rights could take action against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, should she win the election and be permitted to nominate a number of Supreme Court justices.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina. As the crowd booed, he added, “Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
Many saw the words as insinuating the possibility of an act of violence against Clinton. Federal law prohibits threats made against presidential candidates of major political parties, as well as immediate family members of presidents, both categories which apply to Clinton, a wife of a former president, and a current Democratic candidate for president. Trump's campaign said he was referencing the need for gun owners to go out and vote in November, and dismissed the scrutiny as media bias.
CNN reported that the U.S. Secret Service had confirmed to the news network that they had spoken to the Trump campaign about the comments, though Trump denied on Twitter that any conversation took place. Trump later told Fox News that the comments were intended to urge Second Amendment supporters to go out and vote. "Nobody in the room thought anything other than [that]," he said.
CNN reported that the U.S. Secret Service had confirmed to the news network that they had spoken to the Trump campaign about the comments, though Trump denied on Twitter that any conversation took place. Trump later told Fox News that the comments were intended to urge Second Amendment supporters to go out and vote. "Nobody in the room thought anything other than [that]," he said.