Former Secret Service official: Trump comments "pretty close to the edge"
A former Secret Service official says that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's "Second Amendment people" comments at a North Carolina rally would have been deemed a "veiled threat" against the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"Look, this guy is coming pretty close to the edge here," the anonymous, former official told Time Magazine. " ... If this was some guy off the street and they made the statement, you'd go out and interview them."
At Tuesday's rally, Trump that "Second Amendment people" might be able to do something about Hillary Clinton appointing judges.
"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 said.
The ex-official said that, if still employed in the Secret Service, they would try to get in contact with a staff member of Trump's campaign to discuss the "consequences of his rhetoric" and make sure someone understands its potential, possibly grim influence.
Additionally, the ex-official said they would seek help from a U.S. attorney to check out whether Trump's comments would be worth pursuing legally.
"He's not going to act on this," the ex-official said, but, "you don't know what you're encouraging other people to do."
The Secret Service would not speak on the record to CBS News reporters yesterday, but they did say via Twitter that they were aware of the incident.
The Secret Service is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) August 9, 2016
The Clinton campaign has labeled Trump's comments on Tuesday as "dangerous," while defenders of Trump have said the comments were misinterpreted.