Back in August, Donald Trump told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina that Hillary Clinton wanted to “essentially abolish the Second Amendment” and there was “nothing you can do” about it. Unless of course, the Republican nominee thought out loud, “the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I dunno.” What many dubbed Trump’s “Second Amendment people” comment produced renewed scrutiny of the New York real estate mogul, as many pundits, politicos and people thought he was hinting at a Clinton assassination.
Whether or not such was ever his intended meaning, such an awful gaffe doesn’t provide an excuse for Trump’s detractors to make similar jokes. Too bad Real Time host Bill Maher missed the implied memo. During a stand-up show in Washington, D.C. Sunday night, the comedian referenced new poll numbers from several swing states and the recent release of John Hinckley, Jr., President Reagan’s would-be assassin, for a punchline:
“I’m nervous. If this election — and I saw the headline today, ‘Race tightening, Trump ahead in Ohio and Florida’ — if this race is even the week before the election, somebody is going to have to go out there… Why do you think they let Hinckley out?”
Accounts of the joke quickly spread late Sunday, but an audio recording made by Daniel Lippman added credence to the reports. Maher sets everything up, prepares to deliver the punchline (despite audible requests otherwise by audience members), and just says it.
The joke hasn’t garnered nearly as much criticism (or coverage) as Trump’s “Second Amendment people” gaffe, though not because of any liberal media conspiracy. Rather, Maher’s not being a presidential candidate and the lack of a clickable video are the two biggest factors in its lackluster popularity online.
Even so, making quips about political assassinations in the United States during an election is never a good idea.
(Via The Wrap)
