WILMINGTON, N.C. — Donald Trump ignited a fresh political firestorm Tuesday by declaring gun rights supporters might still find a way to stop Hillary Clinton, even if she should defeat him and then name anti-gun Supreme Court justices. Democrats pounced, accusing him of openly encouraging violence against his opponent.

The Republican presidential nominee has been working this week to move past distracting campaign disputes, but once again he put himself at the center of a blazing controversy.

First, he claimed that Clinton, his Democratic opponent, wants to “essentially abolish the Second Amendment.” She has said repeatedly that she supports the Second Amendment right to own guns, though she does back some stricter gun control measures.

Trump then noted the power Clinton would have to nominate justices to the high court.

“By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don't know,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Wilmington, N.C. “But I'll tell you what. That will be a horrible day.”

His reaction later as the uproar grew: “Give me a break.”

Interviewed by Fox News' Sean Hannity, he said everyone in his audience knew he was referring to the power of voters and “there can be no other interpretation.”

Trump's campaign sought to quell the controversy with a statement that blamed the “dishonest media” for misinterpretation. And Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said he was talking about the election choice for pro-gun voters, not encouraging violence.

Yet Trump's foes were unconvinced and unforgiving.

Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said “of course” the Republicans were trying to explain away Trump's comments, but “I think it was just revealing and I don't find the attempt to roll it back persuasive at all.”

Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting Clinton, said Trump had “suggested that someone shoot Hillary Clinton.”

And the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which has endorsed Clinton, said Trump was encouraging gun violence “based on conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton.”

Tweeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat: “(at)realDonaldTrump makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can't handle the fact that he's losing to a girl.”

The National Rifle Association, which has endorsed Trump, came to his defense. The group wrote on Twitter that “there's nothing we can do” if Clinton is elected, and it urged voters to defeat her in November.

The controversy immediately overwhelmed Trump's intended campaign-trail focus: the economic plan he unveiled just a day earlier and was promoting during a series of rallies in the most competitive general election states. It also reinforced the concern, voiced by many worried Republicans, that he cannot stay disciplined and avoid inflammatory remarks that imperil not only his White House prospects but the re-election chances of many GOP lawmakers.

At a rally later Tuesday in Fayetteville, Trump was careful with his words while he repeated his argument that Clinton poses a threat to gun rights. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, introducing him, blamed the controversy on “disgusting” journalists.

“It proves that most of the press is in the tank for Hillary Clinton,” Giuliani said. “They will buy any lie, any distortion, any spin that the Clintons put out.”

Clinton's supporters are hoping the latest Trump trip-up will lead yet more of his fellow Republicans to defect. A day earlier, Maine Sen. Susan Collins became the latest to declare she won't vote for her party's nominee, explicitly pointing to his “constant stream of cruel comments.”

The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for both Clinton's and Trump's protections, said it was aware of what Trump had said but declined to say whether it planned to investigate.

Clinton has made her support for gun rights a key piece of her stump speech. Still, she supports reinstating a federal assault weapons ban, expanding background checks and barring purchases by domestic abusers, among other steps.

Clinton spent Tuesday in Florida calling for emergency public health action on the Zika virus while visiting the Miami area dealing with the first U.S. outbreak. At a local health clinic, she urged Congress to cut short its summer recess and immediately pass funding for a Zika response.

On Monday night, the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter was spotted in a crowd behind Clinton at a campaign event in Kissimmee, south of Orlando.

A campaign official said Tuesday that Seddique Mateen wasn't invited to attend the public event and that the campaign wasn't aware he was there until it ended.

Mateen told news outlets after the rally that he loves the United States.