WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign (all times EDT):
8:05 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is launching an effort to win over Republicans and independents.
Called Together for America, the group aims to use a wave of nearly 50 recent endorsements by high-profile Republicans and independents to convince voters to cross party lines.
Clinton’s campaign is also releasing new endorsements from several retired Republican officials, including former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carla Hills, former Maryland Congresswoman Connie Morella, former Connecticut Congressman Chris Shays and former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte.
Some Republicans say they back Clinton because they don’t support Donald Trump’s bombastic style and controversial statements. Others object to his lack of foreign policy experience. The Clinton backers largely include former officials, though some current Republican officeholders have said they won’t vote for Trump.
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3:10 a.m.
On the defensive once again, Donald Trump is blaming faulty interpretations and media bias for an uproar over his comments about the Second Amendment.
He’s insisting he never advocated violence against Hillary Clinton, even as undeterred Democrats pile on.
The latest Trump controversy arose from an offhand quip at a rally. Trump said there would be “nothing you can do” if Clinton’s elected to stop her from stacking the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices, then added ambiguously, “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is — I don’t know.”
Was Trump suggesting gun owners take matters into their own hands? Or merely musing about the powerful influence of the gun lobby?
Like so many times before, Trump’s supporters and opponents construed his comments in entirely different ways.