On Saturday's New Day on CNN, co-host Victor Blackwell and CNN political commentator Errol Louis were hard at work carrying water for Hillary Clinton on the issue of gun rights as the two characterized GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association as making a false claim against the Democratic candidate on whether she would try to erode the Second Amendment.
With the words "Trump's False Claims on Clinton and Guns" displayed on screen, Blackwell set up a clip of Trump from the recent NRA convention:
The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office. As I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish -- just remember that.
After bringing aboard Louis, Blackwell asserted about Trump's claims, "We know that is not true," as he began:
So you saw there Donald Trump repeat the claim that Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. We know that is not true. But we also don't work inside the room. Does it work? Is it as potent outside of that room?
Even though Clinton's campaign recently affirmed the Democratic candidate's opposition to the Heller Supreme Court case which barred D.C. from banning citizens from possessing guns in the District, Louis tried to claim that she really does support the Second Amendment:
Well, you're exactly right, Victor. He was -- Donald Trump was using the rhetoric that comes from the NRA leadership, and, you know, they just kind of cut to the chase and say anybody who is in favor of sensible gun control wants to take your guns away, wants to abolish the Second Amendment. And, of course, you give it a moment's thought, and you start to realize that's just not possible, given Supreme Court rulings, given what it takes to actually amend or change the Constitution.
In his follow up, Blackwell did bring up the issue of Clinton opposing the Heller decision, but did not explain that, without critical cases like Heller, cities could effectively ban the possession of guns by their citizens. Blackwell:
Hillary Clinton, of course, as we said, has never said she wanted to ban the Second Amendment. She did disagree with the Supreme Court on -- we have a recording of it at a private fundraiser. Let's play that and then talk about that part of the country afterward.
Then played an audio clip of Clinton from October 2015: "Here again, the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment, and I am going to make that case every chance I get."
The CNN host then read a Clinton tweet insisting that her position is consistent with Second Amendment rights:
And, immediately after Trump's NRA speech, she tweeted this. Let's put it up: "You're wrong, Donald Trump, we can uphold the Second Amendment rights while preventing senseless gun violence."
Louis soon predicted that Clinton would have to motivate "as many, say mothers, out there, as many people concerned about gun violence out there as possible" to vote for her to counteract Trump's pro-gun voters.
Below is a complete transcript of the segment from the Saturday, May 21, New Day on CNN:
6:25 a.m. ET
VICTOR BLACKWELL: Well, Trump picks up what he says was an unexpected endorsement from the NRA that happened last evening. He also promised the crowd there that he would lead the fight to defend the Second Amendment. Watch.
DONALD TRUMP, AT NRA CONVENTION: The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office. As I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish -- just remember that.
BLACKWELL: Errol Louis joins us now, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Time Warner Cable News. ...So you saw there Donald Trump repeat the claim that Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. We know that is not true. But we also don't work inside the room. Does it work? Is it as potent outside of that room?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you're exactly right, Victor. He was -- Donald Trump was using the rhetoric that comes from the NRA leadership, and, you know, they just kind of cut to the chase and say anybody who is in favor of sensible gun control wants to take your guns away, wants to abolish the Second Amendment. And, of course, you give it a moment's thought, and you start to realize that's just not possible, given Supreme Court rulings, given what it takes to actually amend or change the Constitution.
So, outside of the room, hard to say where it will work. I tend to think, looking at the map, looking a the political map, this is Donald Trump trying to appeal to some voters and make sure that he can energize and motivate some already conservative voters in states like Ohio, states like Pennsylvania, swing states that he's going to need to carry in November if he wants to win.
BLACKWELL: Let's stay in that region because, first, Hillary Clinton, of course, as we said, has never said she wanted to ban the Second Amendment. She did disagree with the Supreme Court on -- we have a recording of it at a private fundraiser. Let's play that and then talk about that part of the country afterward.
HILLARY CLINTON AUDIO DATED OCTOBER 2015: Here again, the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment, and I am going to make that case every chance I get.
BLACKWELL: And, immediately after Trump's NRA speech, she tweeted this. Let's put it up: "You're wrong, Donald Trump, we can uphold the Second Amendment rights while preventing senseless gun violence."
So, here's the question: Does Hillary Clinton want to have this fight in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, in this area where she has a bit of a weakness and it looks like Donald Trump has some unexpected strength?
LOUIS: My guess is that she's going to need to have that fight, and that she's going to welcome that fight, frankly, because this is a race that is shaping up to be polarized and polarizing. And what that means is you try and get your base out because you're, on some level, giving up on pulling voters away from the other guy. In this case, somebody who's a solid Trump voter, it's not clear what Hillary Clinton would have to do to get an NRA member who is a Trump supporter to come over to her side.
Her strategy would then logically have to be to get as many, say mothers, out there, as many people concerned about gun violence out there as possible. They tend to cluster around the cities. She's going to try and get her base out there, and she's going to have to live up to the pledge you just played, that she's going to contest the Supreme Court's ruling. That doesn't mean she's going to, you know, ignore or try and overturn the Second Amendment, but it does mean she's going to make the case that -- you know, what the amendment does allow, by the way, is local levels of gun control. And she's going to make the case that those are needed.
BLACKWELL: And you mentioned that Hillary Clinton, as you say, will have to speak and be with groups of mothers who are fighting for gun control. She's expected to speak or scheduled to speak at a dinner organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation tonight, so, Errol Louis, we'll continue this conversation. Thanks so much.
