--- title: Donald Trump's 'Second Amendment People' Not the First description: Donald Trump's 'Second Amendment people' comment is not the first time a politician has gotten in trouble for threatening-sounding comments. canonical: https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-10T20:15:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:44.710Z article:section: Politics og:title: 5 Times Politicians Got in Trouble For Comments og:description: That sounded like threats og:url: https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt379364b616b44cb9/6988a1c6428a9ef08ecd3d68/gettyimages-587769084.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Trump says ëSecond Amendment peopleí might be able to prevent Clinton from naming justices og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Times Politicians Got in Trouble For Comments twitter:description: That sounded like threats twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt379364b616b44cb9/6988a1c6428a9ef08ecd3d68/gettyimages-587769084.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Times Politicians Got in Trouble For Threatening-Sounding Comments > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 10, 2016 8:15 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to a member of the audience as he makes remarks Aug. 9, 2016 in Wilmington, N.C. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to a member of the audience as he makes remarks Aug. 9, 2016 in Wilmington, N.C. Chuck Liddy—Raleigh News/Observer/TNS/Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Aug 10, 2016 8:15 PM UTC Donald Trump’s comment Tuesday that there may be something “Second Amendment people” can do if Hillary Clinton is elected president was not the first time a politician got in trouble for overheated language. Here are five other examples: **Hillary Clinton: ‘Bobby Kennedy was assassinated’** In May 2008, then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would remain in the primary against Barack Obama because “[We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/us/politics/24clinton.html?%5Fr=0)” Obama was quick to criticize the remark and Clinton apologized. The remark was considered especially insensitive at the time given Obama’s status as the first likely African-American presidential nominee. **Jesse Helms: ‘Better have a bodyguard’** During an interview in 1994, then-North Carolina Republican Senator Jesse Helms [said](http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/23/us/helms-takes-new-swipe-at-clinton-then-calls-it-mistake.html) President Bill Clinton “better watch out if he comes down here. He’d better have a bodyguard.” The Senator was referring to Clinton’s ability to lead the military and said the President would need protection if he visited North Carolina’s military bases. Helms later said the comment was a “mistake.” **Sharron Angle: ‘Second Amendment remedies’** During her unsuccessful race against then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Republican Sharron Angle cited Thomas Jefferson and said it was good for the country to undergo a revolution every 20 years. Then, [she added](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/sharron%5Fangle%5Ffloated%5Fpossibil.html), “If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.” **Rick Perry: ‘Treat him pretty ugly down’** As he appealed to Iowa voters in the summer of 2011, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry said it would be “treasonous” for the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to put more money into the economy. At a campaign event, Perry [said](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/176985-perry-bernanke-printing-more-money-would-be-almost-treasonous), “I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.” **Al Baldasaro: ‘Shot for treason’** In July, a Trump delegate and advisor was investigated by the Secret Service for saying Hillary Clinton should be killed. Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire representative, has been a staunch Trump supporter and critic of Clinton. During an interview where he blasted Clinton for her handling of the Benghazi attack and her private email server, he [said](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/secret-service-investigating-trump-adviser-al-baldasaro-hillary/story?id=40743979), “Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/"},"headline":"5 Times Politicians Got in Trouble For Threatening-Sounding Comments","datePublished":"2016-08-10T20:15:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:44.710Z","description":"Donald Trump's 'Second Amendment people' comment is not the first time a politician has gotten in trouble for threatening-sounding comments","url":"https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","rick perry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt379364b616b44cb9/6988a1c6428a9ef08ecd3d68/gettyimages-587769084.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt379364b616b44cb9/6988a1c6428a9ef08ecd3d68/gettyimages-587769084.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump says ëSecond Amendment peopleí might be able to prevent Clinton from naming justices","caption":"Trump says ëSecond Amendment peopleí might be able to prevent Clinton from naming justices","creditText":"Chuck Liddy—Raleigh News/Observer/TNS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4446843/donald-trump-second-amendment-people-remarks/","name":"5 Times Politicians Got in Trouble For Threatening-Sounding Comments"}}]}] ```