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Trump Talks of Violence Against Clinton

(CN) - Donald Trump once again brought the specter of violence against Hillary Clinton to the 2016 presidential race, suggesting on Friday in Miami that her Secret Service detail lay down its guns and "see what happens to her."

"I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons," Trump said as his audience cheered. "I think they should disarm. Immediately."

Emboldened by applause, he continued.

"Let's see what happens to her. Take their guns away, O.K. It'll be very dangerous," Trump warned.

As he did after making a similar comment in Wilmington, North Carolina last month, Trump justified his ominous words by claiming falsely that Clinton want to "destroy your Second Amendment" rights.

Four weeks ago, Trump told North Carolinians that if Clinton "gets to pick her judges .. nothing you can do, folks."

When the crowd booed, the GOP standard-bearer sarcastically added, "Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don't know."

That unscripted moment was widely interpreted as an invitation for gun rights supporters to take action if Clinton wins the November general election.

Trump never apologized for the comment nor did he disavowed it; instead he said everyone in his audience knew he was only referring to the power of voters.

"There can be no other interpretation," he said at the time.

In other instances when his words have blown up into full-scale brouhahas, he's said he either misspoke, the media was out to get him, or, in the case of his suggestion that Russian hackers located "her missing emails," that he was only being sarcastic.

Following Trump's remarks in North Carolina, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said, "A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way."

Last night, the Clinton campaign against condemned Trump, saying references to violence are out of bounds in American politics.

"Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, has a pattern of inciting people to violence," Robby Mook said in a written statement. "Whether this is done to provoke protesters at a rally or casually or even as a joke, it is an unacceptable quality in anyone seeking the job of Commander in Chief.

"This kind of talk should be out of bounds for a presidential candidate, just like it should be out of bounds for a presidential candidate to peddle a conspiracy theory about the President of the United States for five years," the statement continued, referencing Trump's reversal, hours earlier, of his long-held position that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

'We've seen again and again that no amount of failed resets can change who Donald Trump is," Mook said. " He is unfit to be President and it is time Republican leaders stand up to denounce this disturbing behavior in their nominee."

A Secret Service spokeswoman declined to comment.

Photo caption:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the James L. Knight Center, Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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