Donald Trump spokeswoman and chief apologist Katrina Pierson appeared on MSNBC Wednesday to indicate that is simply ludicrous to think that Trump suggesting that “Second Amendment people” could “do something” about Hillary Clinton could be interpreted as a threat or an incitement to violence. MSNBC’s Kate Snow told Pierson she was “speechless, trying to follow your logic.”
“The campaign itself issued a statement last night talking about the political power of the NRA,” Pierson said, with the admirable serenity of someone who definitely doesn’t work for a maniac. “This is, after all, the oldest continuous operating civil rights organization. It’s been active for over 144 years. It’s one of the top three political groups in Washington D.C. With 93 million voters and people in the country who own guns legally, there has been massive, massive support for the Second Amendment, for the NRA specifically. Kate, they have produced documentaries on how powerful the NRA is in Washington—”
“I don’t think anybody denies that they have a lot of power,” Snow cut in firmly. “But that’s not what Donald Trump said yesterday.”
Pierson then argued that Trump was talking about Clinton’s ability to pick Supreme Court justices, which she would inevitably use to take guns away, and that the NRA would need to pressure Senators not to approve her SCOTUS picks. Or something. She allowed that “people may have heard” Trump’s remarks as threatening, but that definitely wasn’t on him.
What ensued next was an impressive amount of cross-talking and then some insistence by Pierson was that the liberal media was actively out to misconstrue Trump’s statements for the worst.
“If his words are misinterpreted as president, he will not get a do over as president of the United States,” Snow replied. “I think that’s what a lot of people are reacting to here. You don’t get a do over.”
Pierson pirouetted gracefully from there to argue that it didn’t much matter, since Trump’s remarks were “off the cuff” and he wouldn’t talk that way as president, when dealing with foreign leaders, say: “It will definitely be a more serious discussion.”
“So there’s a difference between speech at a political rally and speech with foreign leaders when you’re president?” Snow asked.
“Well, yeah, he wasn’t talking about policy,” Pierson insisted. “He wasn’t talking about implementation of policy. He was talking about what would happen if Hillary Clinton were elected president and he was absolutely right.”
Snow was silent for a long, long moment.
“I’m speechless because I’m trying to follow your logic here, Katrina,” she said, finally. “And I’m having a hard time.”
“I can tell,” Pierson replied, smiling.
In possibly related news, I suddenly have a terrible headache.
Here’s the full video via Raw Story: