Columnists

Everything's fine

Don't worry, guys, everything's going to be fine.

I know that because people who support GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump say so, usually right after Trump says something that makes me believe everything's not going to be at all fine.

It's happening again right now after Trump floated the possibility that the only way his opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, might be kept from appointing pro-gun-control Supreme Court justices is if she's assassinated.

Trump started off at a Tuesday rally saying: "Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment."

No, she doesn't. She has never said that--not once--or anything close to it, and even if she did want that, changing the Constitution has steep requirements. An amendment approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and approved by three-fourths of state legislatures, or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures.

But hey, I'm burying the lead. Trump went on: "By the way, and if she gets to pick--if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

Trump's various surrogates and spokespeople immediately responded.

Campaign spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement: "It's called the power of unification--Second Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power."

Oh, OK. That clears things up. Everything's going to be fine.

Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Trump supporter, gave CNN's Wolf Blitzer an explanation: "You are treating Mr. Trump's words like he is the most articulate person who has ever graced our ears with his words. And that is not true. He is not a politician; he is not a person like you who is very articulate and very well-spoken."

Good to know. Trump is a non-articulate person who is trying to become president. Everything's fine.

Maybe Trump didn't know what he was talking about when he brought up Second Amendment people. Maybe it was more of the same gibberish that flops out of his mouth when he's not held to message by a teleprompter.

But saying the wrong thing when you're president can have large, awful, devastating consequences. And saying the wrong things when you have a loyal following that borders on cultish can do the same.

We live in a country where mentally ill people have easy access to firearms. But don't worry. Trump's advocates have said everything will be fine.

The U.S. Secret Service, in the wake of Trump's rally, said in a statement that it is "aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon." That's right. The Secret Service--which takes threats against presidents and presidential candidates rather seriously--has taken note of something said by one of our presidential candidates. That's not a common occurrence.

But everything's fine.

Everything's fine.

Right up until it isn't.

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Rex Huppke is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

Editorial on 08/11/2016

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