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In the home stretch of the fall campaign, President Trump has called Democrats "evil" and argued they are "too dangerous to govern." He has denounced Barack Obama's presidency and demonized former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, inspiring chants of "Lock Her Up ! "At his rallies.
The president also used his bully pulpit to taunt Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) As a "low I.Q. individual, "impugn train CIA director John Brennan and fan conspiracy theories about liberal philanthropist George Soros. And he has called the news media "the enemy of the people," singling out CNN's reporting as "fake news."
This week, these targets of Trump's rhetoric became the targets of the day in the form of pipe bombs, many of which turned up Wednesday.
Investigators have not disclosed information about the origin of, and no evidence has surfaced connecting the acts to any political campaign. Still, a common theme among the targets was unmistakable: Each has been a recurring subject of Trump attacks.
Obama and Clinton were arrested by the Secret Service, while on Monday, at Soros's home.
In addition, it was discovered at CNN 's New York headquarters and another, addressed to Waters, was discovered at a congressional mail sorting facility. Eric Holder Jr. Attend General Eric Holder Jr.
President Trump listens as first lady Melania Trump speaks at the White House Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post)
Trump and other Republican leaders rushed Wednesday to decry the thwarted attacks on Democrats and CNN, saying that such acts can not be tolerated. For many politicians, the day was a reckoning – a sobering pause.
[[Homemade bombs feel to Obama, Clinton, CNN offices and Holder, officials say]
Speaking from the East Room of the White House, Trump said he and officials in his administration were "extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed" and vowed that "the safety of the American people is my highest priority."
The president has sounded a call to all Americans to unite, though he did not address the tone of his own rhetoric.
"We have to come together and unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence in the United States of America," Trump said.
Supporters of President Trump wait outside before a rally Wednesday in Mosinee, Wis. (Andy Manis / Getty Images)
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Responded in a joint statement: "President Trump's words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence."
They went on to argue that Trump has "divided Americans with his words and actions," citing his cheers for Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) For body-slamming a journalist; his equivocations over the deadly neo-Nazi and white supremacist rally in August 2017 in Charlottesville; his encouragement of supporters at rallies who have gotten violent with protesters; his praise for foreign dictators who kill their own citizens; and his attacks on the free press as "the enemy of the people."
Jon Meacham, a journalist and historian who wrote the book "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels," said the most divisive political periods of the nation's history of violence against political figures. He said he has long been worried about the Trump era.
"We have examples of political violence in the United States in the age of Jackson, in the road to Civil War, during the Civil War, in the Progressive Era and in the cataclysm of the 1960s," Meacham said. "What happened today is a reminder of the stakes of the era in which we're living. This is an era of fundamental redefinition of politics and culture. It requires leadership that is steadying, not incendiary, and we've seen far too much incendiary language from the top. "
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders characterized the mailing of explosive devices as "terrorizing acts," while prominent Republican lawmakers condemned it as a cowardly attack aimed at terrorizing public figures. There were widespread calls to quickly bring into justice those responsible.
"The full weight of our government is being used to conduct this investigation and to bring these guilty actions to justice," Trump said.
Clinton, speaking at a fundraiser for congressional candidate Donna Shalala in Coral Gables, Fla., Thanked the Secret Service for intercepting the package addressed to her and called it "a troubling time."
"It's a time of deep divisions," she said.
[CNN finds itself at the center of the news as a mail bomb forces evacuation of its New York office]
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) tweets, These are attacks made beyond the reach of criminal law, they are acts of pure terror. Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else in our society. "
Hey added, "Those responsible for this evil acts of terror must be hunted down and brought to justice, and I have great confidence that our law enforcement officers will succeed in that mission. As a nation, we must agree that this is a dangerous path and it can not become the new normal. "
Trump traveled to Wisconsin on Wednesday for an evening rally, where House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) Warmed up the crowd ahead of the president's arrival in Mosinee.
"Let me just say something that I think needs to be said on a day like today," Ryan began.
Trumpian singing: "Build the wall!"
"I'll get to that," Ryan said. Did you see this morning about these devices? That is an act of terrorism. There is no place for that in our democracy. We reject that. "
When asked Wednesday, some of Trump's rhetoric might have contributed to the mailings, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) defended the President.
"A lot of things could have contributed to that," he said.
He added, "I do not see anything really wrong with the president. I think that, you know, he's in a tough position, he's attacked on all sides, and he ought to be able to express himself. "
But Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Who has long been bemoaned the disappearance of civility from America's politics, said Wednesday that it was obvious that "political."
"What the president says matters, and it was a more civil tone, it would make a difference," Flake said in an interview on CNN. "Civility can not wait until after an election. The president should not refer to the press as the 'enemy of the people.' . . People hear that and they follow it. "
Trump has long assailed the targets of the packages. He regularly excoriates Obama's presidency and was a leading proponent of the falsehood that the nation's first black president was not born in the United States.
Despite defeating Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, Trump still goes after her in his speeches, inspiring songs from her rally crowds to "Lock her up!" Before Trump's appearance at the Wisconsin rally Wednesday, the crowds erupted in a "Lock her up! "While singing Republican candidate Republican Leah Vukmir was attacking Clinton.
At his rallies, Trump also routinely mocks Waters and attacks CNN as reporting "fake news," to which his rally crowds regularly sing back, "CNN sucks!" And Soros has long been a target of far-right groups and the subject of conspiracy theories with anti-Semitic overtones.
In the wake of angry protests over Supreme Court Brett M. Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation battle, Trump and other Republicans have tried to democrats as the party of the "mob" and attempted to link specific candidates to radical figures on the left.
[The instant, inevitable cries of ‘false flag’ after bomb threats targeting the Clintons, Obamas and CNN]
A number of Trump's supporters advanced the "false flag" theory on social media and radio talk, arguing that the potential explosive devices may have been felt by the subject of reversing the "mob" argument and painting Democrats as victims of unruly conservatives.
Explaining the theory, conservative radio talk-host Rush Limbaugh said on Wednesday, "For the last few weeks, the Democrats have had all of that horrible PR, all of these angry mobs. . . Would you like it to be a Democratic Republic of the World to make it look like the Republicans are a bunch of insane lunatics and have some mobsters on their side as well? "
The "mob" has a feature of Trump 's Rally Speeches, but also central to some GOP campaign advertising.
In Minnesota's rural 1st Congressional District, the National Republican Congressional Committee has reviewed Dan Feehan, an Army veteran who received a Bronze Star, to antifa activists who have clashed with police and right-wing protesters.
"Feehan works at a liberal organization bankrolled by George Soros, chief financier of the global left and anti-American causes," says a narrator in one spot, as the sound of smashing glass plays over images of anarchist protesters.
John Wagner, Erica Werner and David Weigel contributed to this report.
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