Democrats tie Trump's rhetoric to spate of suspected bombs

By Ginger Gibson and Jeff Mason

 

(Top L-R) U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Democratic Party donor George Soros and former U.S. President Barack Obama are pictured along with (Bottom L-R) former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Former CIA director John Brennan in a combination photograph made from Reuters file photos. REUTERS/Files

 

MILWAUKEE/MOSINEE, Wis. (Reuters) - The undercurrent of rage that has been driving U.S. politics for the past few years surfaced on Wednesday in a series of suspected bombs sent to prominent U.S. Democrats and the news outlet CNN less than two weeks before congressional elections.

 

None of the devices went off and no injuries were reported, but a number of top Democrats were quick to label the threats a symptom of a coarsening brand of political rhetoric promoted by President Donald Trump, who also condemned the acts.

 

Police intercepted six suspected bombs sent to targets including Trump's 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama and prominent political donor George Soros. Law enforcement agencies were investigating.

 

During his presidential campaign, Trump regularly urged his supporters to chant "Lock her up," a threat to jail Clinton, and supported conspiracy theories that Soros plays an underhanded role in influencing U.S. politics. Trump has also disparaged the mainstream media and criticized CNN as "fake news."

 

At a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, Trump sought to project a message of unity, pledging to find those responsible for the suspected bombs and calling on Americans to come together.

 

"You see how nice I’m behaving tonight? Have you ever seen this?" he asked the crowd in Mosinee, Wisconsin. "We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way."

 

Democrats were having none of it, saying the Republican president had little credibility to act as a unifying figure.

 

"President Trump's words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier in the day.

 

"For years now, Donald Trump has been calling for the jailing of his critics and has lauded violence against journalists," said U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat. "The danger of right-wing extremism cannot be ignored and more attention must be paid to it before even worse violence occurs."

 

Politicians from both major parties have made condemning the harsh tone of politics part of their everyday stump speeches.

 

Republicans have criticized Democrats and liberal activists as a "mob," decrying protesters crowding the U.S. Capitol to oppose Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and confronting and chastising Republican lawmakers in restaurants and other settings. Scenes of small-scale violence also marked Trump's 2017 inauguration.

 

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found rising anger would be a factor driving voters on the Nov. 6 elections when Democrats are seeking to regain control of at least one of the two chambers of Congress.

 

HEATED TONE

Trump sometimes invokes images of violence in remarks to his supporters. Last week, he reiterated his support for a Montana congressman who body-slammed a reporter in 2017. In August, Trump warned that if Democrats gained control of Congress, they would "quickly and violently" overturn his agenda.

 

Last year, he said there were bad people on both sides of a clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters.

 

Some of the people who received suspicious packages, including Obama, Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder, have been targeted by online groups such as QAnon that push vast conspiracy theories saying Democrats are behind international crime rings.

 

Posts on online message boards dismissed the cluster of suspected bombs as a "false flag," an allegation that a widely covered news event was a politically motivated hoax.

 

Paul Achter, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Richmond, said Trump's frequently violent tone increased the likelihood of violent actions.

 

"Verbal abuse has consequences," Achter said. "Just because Trump did not send a bomb or beat up a reporter or shoot up a newsroom doesn't excuse this kind of speech."

 

But Republican U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, who was wounded last year by a gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers during a baseball practice, said it was a mistake for Democrats to criticize Trump for the suspected bombs.

 

"I think it was important that the President did come out with a statement the way he did - strongly," Scalise said in a statement. "I heard silence a lot of times, when Republicans were under attack, from Democrat leaders. We all should be calling this out, whether a Republican or Democrat is under attack."

 

For all Reuters election coverage, click: https://www.reuters.com/politics/election2018

 

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson in Milwaukee and Jeff Mason in Mosinee, Wis.; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-25

When you whip people into a frenzy with lies and conspiracy theories, it is not surprising that some will do something stupid and extreme. One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from and whether it will benefit them or the other side. Perhaps if Donald reined in his rhetoric a little, and stopped with the absurd accusations, and hate filled speeches this sort of incident would not happen.

So for one night only, "trump" is not saying the press is the enemy of the people. How gullible do you have to be to see "trump" as a unifying leader? That ship sailed when after that horrible divisive election he doubled down on making it clear he is ONLY the president of his base.

26 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from and whether it will benefit them or the other side.

 

+1

43 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

When you whip people into a frenzy with lies and conspiracy theories, it is not surprising that some will do something stupid and extreme. One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from and whether it will benefit them or the other side. Perhaps if Donald reined in his rhetoric a little, and stopped with the absurd accusations, and hate filled speeches this sort of incident would not happen.

"One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from"

 

No, it is very obvious which side of the spectrum this came from. Rhetoric has consequences.

52 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

When you whip people into a frenzy with lies and conspiracy theories, it is not surprising that some will do something stupid and extreme. One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from and whether it will benefit them or the other side. Perhaps if Donald reined in his rhetoric a little, and stopped with the absurd accusations, and hate filled speeches this sort of incident would not happen.

 

It's very hard to know who you are talking about "whipping people into a frenzy with lies and conspiracy theories".

 

I'd say the media are about 10 to Trumps 1 on that score.

8 minutes ago, stevenl said:

"One can only speculate which side of the spectrum this came from"

 

No, it is very obvious which side of the spectrum this came from. Rhetoric has consequences.

 

lol

 

and another one.

 

Whose rhetoric?

 

Trump and the left wing media have been as bad as each other. The only reason the left wing media are MORE guilty - there's more of them.

Orange man bad!

Seems like a desperate attempt by election losers at influencing public opinion 2 weeks before another historic loss at midterms. imo.

 

We must feel bad for these victims of terror! But amazing how these got through the postal system without the stamps being stamped with dates. Hmm I wounder what else was meant happen yesterday which this has taken my attention from? Forget it, whats on CNN!

 This was meant to be seen, not explode. It's for a media play 100%

Who benefits? 

 

Trump praises a Congressman who bodyslammed a reporter and then lied about it. Trump doesn't encourage violence?

 

Trump rally attendants chant 'lock her up' despite bomb mailed to Hillary Clinton, President claims he's 'behaving very well'

 

Attendants [sic] at a Trump rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday had apparently not paid attention to the President’s plea for unity earlier in the day, as they erupted in a “lock her up” chant mere hours after a bomb was mailed to Hillary Clinton’s home.

The raucous crowd in Mosinee, Wis., exploded in the familiar anti-Clinton diatribe after GOP Senate candidate Leah Vukmir went after the former secretary of state for supposedly being “crooked.”

Minutes later, President Trump took the stage and — without a hint of irony — called on “those engaged in the political arena” to “stop treating political opponents as being morally defective.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-trump-rally-lock-her-up-clinton-0181024-story.html

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

So for one night only, "trump" is not saying the press is the enemy of the people. How gullible do you have to be to see "trump" as a unifying leader? That ship sailed when after that horrible divisive election he doubled down on making it clear he is ONLY the president of his base.

JT, you and I go back a long way so I say this with love.  Trump IS trying to unify the country and it's the liberal media that keeps fanning the flames of hate.  Don't buy into it, please.

To memory, these are just a slice of rhetoric from the 'other side'

Waters - "No peace, no sleep"

Booker - "Get in their faces"

Pelosi - "Collateral damage to those that don't agree"

Lynch - "Blood in the streets"

Holder - "When they're down, kick 'em"

 

That is beyond the literal 24/7 attacks on Trump that CNN has become.

 

The funny thing here - people are just continuing the same thing. By saying only one side is divisive, you are being divisive.

 

So - of course Trump rhetoric needs to tone down but so does Waters, Lynch, Pelosi, CNN, MSNBC et al

 

There's 2 sides to this sordid tale and you people thinking the dems/media are saints are clearly delusional.

 

It's BOTH sides.

 

In fact, I can guarantee - you will only see the OTHER side to yours in this post.

Just now, Boon Mee said:

These 'bombs' were obviously a false flag operation to draw attention from the Mobs of the left wing does not want to acknowledge. 

just props with postage stamps but didnt go through postal service . the benefit is clearly for cnn and the unhinged crew in the pics above this article. election meddling 101. 

russia hoax going nowhere

tax returns went nowhere

Christene Ford... ridiculous act 

Stormy Daniels..dismissed case

Honduran caravan will result in backlash

 

democrat party desperate and dying. 

fear of arrests after midterms imo

 

22 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

These 'bombs' were obviously a false flag operation to draw attention from the Mobs of the left wing does not want to acknowledge. 

Yeah right, sure it is...

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Absolutely! Over 90% of the reporting on President Trump is overwhelming negative. If Trump discovered a cure for Cancer, he would be castigated for putting doctors out of business. 

 

Maybe get back to us when Trump does anything resembling such momentous good deeds. Until then, prattle on.

This is a pantomime staged by CNN. End of story.

55 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

Maybe because 90% of what he says and does is negative?

There are the things that the presidents do...and those that they don't do!

 

Trump is the first president in a long time to have not started a war...yet!.

 

As long as this non-doing stands, that is worth something...worth a lot actually for those who are on the receiving end of the US missiles.

 

So far Trump is not known for reviewing a hit list once a week like his benevolent predecessor, whose hands were covered with so much blood that he made MBS look like a choir boy...

This is a pantomime staged by CNN. End of story.

More like the beginning of a moronic right wing conspiracy theory.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

22 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

This is a pantomime staged by CNN. End of story.

With statements like this do you actually expect to be taken seriously?

I think the Dems are as much to blame as GOP.  Their vile rhetoric about supporting accosting diners is as much at fault as GOP's mania.  

Tomorrow's Headline - "DEMOCRATS PANIC As Trump Vows To Find Out Who Sent Suspicious Packages"

????

1 minute ago, Srinivas said:

Tomorrow's Headline - "DEMOCRATS PANIC As Trump Vows To Find Out Who Sent Suspicious Packages"

????

That's SOOOO funny!

A post in violation of fair use policy has been removed. 

 

Troll posts have been reported and removed as well as the replies. 

We saw something similar during the Brexit vote when Jo Cox, the young mother and member of the UK parliament, was shot dead by a right wing loner. The anti-immigration rhetoric at the time was toxic, and that type of language has consequences.

 

Trump had the opportunity to be the President for everyone but he's simply only interested in furthering his own interests, and uses a large "base" of simpletons who fall for all his dog whistle punch lines ... lock her up, build a wall, MAGA ... and other such rubbish that gets them all excited, but which he couldn't care less about. Trump could not give a fig about any of them, he's in the pay for play business, looking after number one. But his words have consequences.

MSM and Democrats did everything to divide the people. It started already before Trump was potus. And now they blame Trump again?

It's all about the midterms. Democrats shaking. They're in panicmode.

There won't be a blue wave.

Sent from a so called Smartphone using an App.

13 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

We saw something similar during the Brexit vote when Jo Cox, the young mother and member of the UK parliament, was shot dead by a right wing loner. The anti-immigration rhetoric at the time was toxic, and that type of language has consequences.

 

Trump had the opportunity to be the President for everyone but he's simply only interested in furthering his own interests, and uses a large "base" of simpletons who fall for all his dog whistle punch lines ... lock her up, build a wall, MAGA ... and other such rubbish that gets them all excited, but which he couldn't care less about. Trump could not give a fig about any of them, he's in the pay for play business, looking after number one. But his words have consequences.

You should not use someone's death as an analogy to push blame here.

 

Not similar at all and you don't know that this is not another attempt to damage Trump.

Nine Bombs. 

 

Not. One. Detonated.  

 

This is a big clue.