North Carolina Senator Jokes About Shooting Hillary Clinton

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr joked at a private fundraiser over the weekend about shooting Hillary Clinton, according to audio of the event published Monday by CNN.

He told the audience that "nothing made me feel better" than walking into a gun store and seeing a magazine about rifles "with a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front of it."

"I was a little bit shocked at that — it didn't have a bullseye on it," he said to laughs.

The Republican incumbent, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, is locked in a tight race in his state with challenger Deborah Ross. North Carolina will also be a key state in the general election, in which Clinton leads Trump by a small margin there in recent state polling.

In a statement to CNN, he said he regretted his choice of words.

"The comment I made was inappropriate, and I apologize for it," he said.

Read more from CNN here.

Burr's comments were similar to those made by Trump back in August when he suggested "Second Amendment people" take matters into their own hands should Clinton win the election and nominate justices to the Supreme Court.

"If she gets to pick her judges — nothing you can do, folks," he said. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

In September, Trump suggested Clinton's Secret Service detail should disarm, then said, “Let’s see what happens to her.”

At his fundraiser Wednesday, Burr also pledged to block any Supreme Court nominee Clinton puts forward.

"Well, my answer to you would be it isn't going to happen — period," he said, adding, "And if Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court."

Image via U.S. Senate.