[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Throughout the week, supporters of President Donald Trump have been playing in defense, bringing new reports every day that more bombs have been sent to prominent critics of the president. Some suggested that shipments could be a "false flag" operation aimed at increasing Democratic enthusiasm. Trump himself complained that "this" bomb equipment "" was bothering the upcoming mid-term elections.
Then came Friday the arrest of a supporter of Trump Florida as the main suspect.
Trump's Republicans rushed to draw a sharp dividing line between the alleged actions of 56-year-old César Sayoc and the president.
"There is no fault. There is nothing at all, "insisted Trump, refuting any idea that his harsh rhetoric, sometimes supportive of violence, had played any role.
As for the message sent by his own words, Trump was not excused: "I think I have attenuated it. I could really tone it up. "
The conservatives joined the defensive chorus, pointing out, like Trump, the murder in 2017 of Republican representative Steve Scalise and other people by a supporter of Democrat Bernie Sanders. No politician should be blamed for the violent tendencies of a supporter, they argued.
Matthew Schlapp, president of the Union of American Conservatives, tweeted that the "FBI was trying to stop Trump." Obama pushed Russian collusion. CNN never stops attacking it. Maxine & co want him in prison. But he is at fault ?!
Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, reprimanded Trump for his harsh speech and said: "It is time for the president to focus 100% on strengthening the nation and to % on the political ramifications ".
But Mr Fleischer also said that he expected "the Democrats and the press to fall back into their tendency to accuse President Trump. And that's not correct.
Jim McGrath, spokesman for former President George H. W. Bush, tweeted, "People must have a life. Both parties are crazy, as @SteveScalise can attest. "
As he has done in other times of crisis, Trump on Friday issued a carefully worded statement denouncing these heinous acts, stating that "these acts of terrorism are despicable and do not have their place in our country".
"I asked the authorities to spare no resources or expense to find the perpetrators and bring them to a speedy and certain justice," Trump said. "We must never allow political violence to take root in America, we can not let it happen. And I pledged to do everything in my power as president to end it now. Stop now."
But these remarks come shortly after tweeting a complaint that media attention on the bombs was diverting media attention.
"Republicans are doing very well in early votes and polls. Now this "bomb" is happening and the momentum is slowing down dramatically – the news is not about politics, "Trump told Twitter a few hours before Sayoc was taken into custody. "Very unfortunate, what's going on? Republicans, go out and vote!
At a campaign rally on Friday night in North Carolina, Trump resumed the attack, accusing the media of using the gas pipe incident to "score political points" Against him and the GOP. The pro-Trump crowd burst into chaos when there were big chants of CNN sucks.
Trump's tweet was an effort to refocus attention on intermediate goals that could alter the trajectory of his presidency. His quotation marks around "Bomb" were striking, suggesting that the president might doubt the authenticity of the fear. This theory had gained ground in some circles on the right.
A number of Trump's allies, including his eldest son, Donald Jr., and conservative commentator Lou Dobbs, have used social media to promote the idea that the bombs could be a democrat-led hoax. Rush Limbaugh, an influential right-wing radio host, and some GOP convention candidates did the same. Finally, Fox & Friends' favorite TV show aired a segment on Friday morning in the hours leading up to its tweet about bombs being a ploy to help Democrats.
After Sayoc turned out to be a supporter of Trump, a number of conservatives soon blamed the president for blaming him for contributing to the hyper-partisan atmosphere.
And even during the fright, Trump did not abandon his grievance policy.
He posted a tweet Friday at 3am in which he complained that CNN and others had made him responsible for the panic, claiming that they "ridiculously compared that to September 11th and to Oklahoma City bombings, but when I criticize them, they unleash and yell "this is just not presidential! "One of the packages of explosives was sent to CNN, forcing an evacuation of their studios to Manhattan.
In the White House, a few moments after hailing Sayoc's arrest, Trump told the members of the 2018 Young Black Leaders Summit: "Well, who is attacked more than me? I can do what is best for our country and the networks … it will go bad. No matter what."
Some in the crowd began shouting "Fake News," a staple at any Trump rally, while one person shouted "CNN Sucks!". After Trump mentioned globalism, there was a sneer on George Soros, the Liberal donor who was the target of one of the homemade bombs.
Trump is also complaining that the hunt for human hunting has distracted from his announcement Thursday about an effort to lower the price of prescription drugs. Trump said the announcement "was competing with this story" about homemade bombs.
He added that with the suspect's apprehension, "maybe it can start to disappear quickly because we do not like these stories".
___
Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Lucey at http://twitter.com/@catherine_lucey
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
Source link
