MOSINEE, Wis. âPresident Trump decried the threat of political violence and called on the media to end its âhostilityâ Wednesday, hours after authorities intercepted bombs sent to a news network and prominent Democrats who have been the targets of some of his sharpest barbs.
âWe want all sides to come together in peace and harmony,â he said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. âAny acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself.â
The president noted the unusually subdued tone of his remarks.
âBy the way, do you see how nice Iâm behaving tonight?â he said. âHave you ever seen this?â
The president did not take any responsibility.
Those âengaged in the political arenaâ must âstop treating political opponents as being morally defective,â he said. He also referenced high-profile incidents in which conservatives have been accosted in restaurants and public spaces by political critics.
PRESIDENT CALLS FOR UNITY
He added: âThe media also has a responsibilty to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.â
Trump has frequently labeled stories he doesnât like as âfake newsâ and many reporters as âenemies of the people.â
Trump spoke to thousands of supporters in a central Wisconsin rally as he looked to boost struggling Republican candidates less than two weeks out from the midterm elections. He visited the tiny city of Mosinee, which has a population of 4,000. He won that part of the state by double digits in 2016.
Earlier in Washington, Trump took a more bipartisan tone, calling for unity and urging the nation to come together and send âone very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.â
âWeâre extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it,â said Trump, who has sometimes struggled to show empathy at moments of national sorrow.
âREPREHENSIBLE ACTSâ
Congressional Republicans also condemned the suspicious devices.
House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced the âreprehensible actsâ as an âattempt to terrorize public figures.â Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it âdomestic terrorism.â
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is facing a fierce challenge from Democrat Beto OâRourke, tweeted that âviolence is never OKâ and said the reports were âdeeply, deeply disturbing. America is better than this.â
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was severely wounded in a 2017 shooting that targeted Republican members of Congress on a suburban baseball field, wrote on Twitter that he had experienced âfirst-hand the effects of political violenceâ and said that as a nation âwe must agree that this is a dangerous path and it cannot become the new normal.â
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