Hillary Clinton used to let out her signature guffaw nearly every time someone brought up the name Donald Trump. But as she told Seth Meyers during an appearance on NBC’s Late Night on Thursday, she’s not laughing anymore.
The Democratic frontrunner did let a small giggle slip when Meyers mentioned Trump last night, before quickly catching herself.
“I want to ask you a couple questions about Donald Trump,” Meyers said during the interview. “First question: Have you heard about him?”
“You know, I have to say, Seth, I no longer think he’s funny,” Clinton replied, shaking her head as Meyers agreed. “I think for weeks, you know, you and everybody else were just bringing folks to hysterical laughter and all of that. Now he has gone way over the line, and what he’s saying now is not only shameful and wrong, it’s dangerous.”
While Trump has been an “equal opportunity insulter” up to this point, Clinton said his latest call to ban Muslims from entering the country goes above and beyond what came before it. In fact, she said it “really plays into the hands of the terrorists,” adding, “and I don’t say that lightly.”
Clinton called on Republicans specifically to stand up to Trump and say, “Enough.”
Her comments to Meyers echoed those made at a town hall in Waterloo, Iowa, this week. At that event, she acknowledged the “anxiety and fear” that terrorism can induce. “But then you pull yourself together and, especially, if you want to be a leader of our country, and you say: ‘OK, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to be prepared?’” she said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Meyers did get a big laugh out of Clinton by asking her what qualities her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has that will make him a good First Gentleman in the White House. “He loves giving tours,” she told Meyers.
The conversation also touched on the debate over gun control, during which Clinton shared harsh criticism of the NRA. “If you are trying to keep people paying dues and supporting your organization, you want to keep them upset,” she said.
While Clinton admitted there was a time in recent history when the NRA was willing to compromise, “Today, they want people to feel like the black helicopter’s going to land in the backyard and your guns are going to be taken,” a scenario she described as “totally and unbelievably untrue.”
