Hillary Clinton: "I will not be silenced" on guns
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Hillary Clinton didn't get the last word on gun control at the Democratic debate on Tuesday in Las Vegas, but here on Thursday she offered a response to her chief rival for the nomination, Bernie Sanders.
"I've been told by some to quit talking about this, to quit shouting about this" she said at a colorful campaign rally, her first in Texas, that drew more than 2000. "I'll tell you right now, I will not be silenced, and we will not be silenced."
Though she didn't say his name, Clinton was referring to Sanders. After Clinton was quick to say during the debate that Sanders isn't "tough enough" on guns, the moderator gave Sanders time to respond.
"As a senator from a rural state, what I can tell Secretary Clinton," he said, "[is] that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want, and that is keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns and end this horrible violence that we are seeing."
In San Antonio on Thursday, Clinton reiterated her commitment to fighting the National Rifle Association.
"How many families need to wonder whether maybe they should tell their kids not to go to the movie theater," Clinton said. "How many how many people have to think twice now about going to church?"
It wasn't clear whether or not the crowd made the connection between what Clinton said and the debate, but the choice of words marks a departure for Clinton. Off the debate stage, Clinton has been hesitant to criticize her opponents on the Democratic side of the race. She instead reserves her harshest comments for the Republican field and, so far, has framed the debate as an opportunity to contrast the two parties, instead of the candidates who were alongside her on Tuesday night.
Clinton's appearance in San Antonio was designed to boost support among Latinos. Many at the rally held signs that read "Estoy Contigo" and mariachi music played throughout the pavilion ahead of Clinton's speech. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, endorsed Clinton as he introduced her on stage, calling her "the next President of the United States." His twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, endorsed her last year, before she had even announced her candidacy.
Clinton cast herself as the singular candidate willing to prioritize Latino issues, despite all of the campaign speak that might happen on the trail. She said others would ask for Latino support, and then "disappear."
"That's not me. That's never been me," she said. "Your fights are my fights. They always have been and they always will be."