Washington
Times (DC) October 29, 2018
Moments after President Trump called for an end to the
politics of personal destruction at a rally in North Carolina late Friday, the
crowd broke into the president's trademark Hillary Clinton chant: "Lock
her up!"
Hours earlier, authorities revealed that Cesar Sayoc, the
man they accuse of terrorizing Democrats with homemade bombs last week, was a
Trump supporter who drove a van with an image of Mrs. Clinton covered by target
crosshairs. The van also sported a prominent "CNN sucks" sticker.
That did not faze the Trump crowd, which lustily booed the
mention of Democrats including Mrs. Clinton, and broke into a round of
"CNN sucks" chants, echoing the exact rhetoric that appears to have
touched a nerve with Mr. Sayoc.
The shooting at a synagogue Saturday in Pennsylvania also
did nothing to quell the heated political passions ahead of next week's
elections, with Mr. Trump's fans again chanting against Mrs. Clinton.
Democrats, meanwhile, continued to blame Mr. Trump for
rhetoric that they said is fueling the anger, and online liberal forums took no
break in mercilessly attacking the Trump presidency's legitimacy and veracity.
"Honestly, I think this president's whole modus
operandi is to divide us," Rep. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, told
CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday.
Mr. Schiff said the American people have a
"collective responsibility" to reel in hatred, yet "no one sets
the tone more than the president of the United States," who he said has
failed to lead.
"It's going to fall on all the rest of us to make
this a more perfect union," Mr. Schiff said.
Mr. Trump, though, said change must start with the media.
In the hours after Mr. Sayoc's identity was revealed and
his pro-Trump proclivities became clear, the president suggested that intense
negative coverage of him and his followers was feeding a sense of unfairness.
He said coverage of his administration has been 94 percent negative.
"We want honest coverage from the media. That's all
we want," he said.
Mr. Trump did praise the FBI and police for their quick
action in arresting Mr. Sayoc, who has been charged with sending the 13 pipe
bombs detected this week en route to major Trump political opponents. Targets
included former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, several prominent members of Congress and former Obama administration
officials. None of the devices detonated, and nobody was hurt.
Mr. Sayoc's van was plastered with images reflecting the
president's campaign speechifying, including attacks on the press, Democrats
and the Washington "swamp."
Mr. Trump said he found the press obsession with Mr.
Sayoc's political leanings untoward and compared it with coverage of the man
who attacked Republicans at baseball practice last year, gravely wounding House
Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The man had been a volunteer for Sen.
Bernard Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.
"We did not use that heinous attempt at mass murder
for political gain because that would have been wrong," the president
said.
Mr. Trump over the weekend also condemned the Saturday
attack on a synagogue, which authorities blamed on 46-year-old Robert Bowers.
Authorities said Mr. Bowers has a history of vicious anti-Semitic comments that
does not exclude accusing Mr. Trump of being surrounded by too many Jews.
"He was no supporter of mine," Mr. Trump told
reporters as he traveled to a campaign rally in Illinois on Saturday. "His
thought process was sick."
Trump critics, though, say he has been too willing to
flirt with nefarious voices and note his reference to honorable people on
"both sides" of the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year.
The violent attacks follow a particularly nasty string of
weeks in Washington, where Democrats launched an unprecedented attack on
Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, using uncorroborated allegations of
sexual assault and outlandish gang rape accusations against him.
Amid the acrimony, liberal activists loudly confronted
Republican senators in public. One Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill has been
charged with "doxxing" senators, releasing their personal phone
numbers and addresses online to encourage activists to target them.
Sen. Christopher A. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said Sunday
that it is not the same as Mr. Sayoc's behavior.
He did, though, criticize Rep. Maxine Waters, California
Democrat, for suggesting protesters should confront and bother Republicans when
they are out in public.
"One of the things that really concerns me, that
weighs on my heart, is the ways in which our president and a number of other
national political leaders of both parties have used their megaphones in order
to inspire and instill and energize folks based on division rather than based
on unity," Mr. Coons told the CBS program "Face the Nation."
Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, noted that Mr.
Bowers didn't appear to be a fan of the president.
"I believe the same shooter was condemning President
Trump," Mr. Lankford told CBS, referring to online postings in which Mr.
Bowers referred to the president as a "globalist."
"I don't see how you connect Present Trump to a
person who is deranged going into a synagogue," he said.
Mr. Lankford also criticized liberal voices who have
shouted down or attacked conservatives on college campuses and Justice
Kavanaugh. Yet he also found fault with Mr. Trump, saying he is responsible for
his own tone.
"I think the president needs to be more clear in his
rhetoric and doesn't need to be as caustic in his rhetoric," Mr. Lankford
said.
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