Giuliani blames 2nd Amendment controversy on "Clinton spin machine"
New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is defending Donald Trump's Tuesday statement that "Second Amendment people" could stop Hillary Clinton's possible Supreme Court appointments, which the campaign says implied violence against the Democratic nominee.
"You know how speeches go. He was talking about how they [gun rights advocates] have the power to keep her out of office," Giuliani said to "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos. "That's what he was talking about ... With a crowd like that, if that's what they thought he'd meant, they'd have gone wild."
Giuliani pointed fingers at the source of the controversy to the "Clinton spin machine," which he said purposefully misinterpreted the statement.
"We know Donald Trump is not particularly indirect. If Donald Trump was going to say something like that, he'd say something like that," Giuliani said.
When asked if Trump's comment was referencing Second Amendment action after a theoretical Clinton victory, Giuliani said, "He was talking about the election in general, he wasn't talking just after the election."
In the interview, Giuliani was puzzled as to why the media was more focused on a 23-word statement from Trump rather than the father of Orlando Pulse massacre shooter Omar Mateen standing behind Clinton at a Kissimmee, Florida, campaign rally.
"Who invited him? And what drew him to Hillary Clinton?," Giuliani said.
The Clinton campaign said late Tuesday that Mateen's father had not been invited to the event, that they were unaware he was in attendance until after the fact, and that the candidate "disavows" his support.