Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stumbled to clarify his stance on guns in classrooms, contradicting his position on the issue in one breath.
“I don’t want to have guns in classrooms. Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms,” Trump said Sunday on "Fox & Friends."
The real estate mogul doubled down on his contradictory stance as the phone interview continued. “I’m not advocating guns in classrooms,” he reiterated. “In some cases -- and a lot of people have made this case -- teachers should be able to have guns, trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms.”
Trump’s comments came in response to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who accused him of pandering to the gun lobby after he spoke at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting on Friday and pledged to abolish gun-free zones.
Earlier this month, Clinton tweeted that Trump would require schools to allow guns in classrooms immediately upon entering office.
Trump characterized that statement as “wrong!” but the Washington Post’s Fact Checker found that Clinton’s charge was accurate, based on Trump's past promises.
“I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools -- you have to -- and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, OK? My first day. There’s no more gun-free zones,” he said back in January at a rally in Vermont.
Despite Trump’s enthusiasm for abolishing gun-free zones, several of his own properties prohibit occupants from carrying firearms -- including his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.