Ting Shen/ZUMA
One day after packages containing explosive devices were mailed to prominent Democrats and the CNN offices in New York City, President Donald Trump on Thursday accused the media of stoking anger around the country by “purposely” reporting inaccurate news. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description!” he tweeted.
Trump’s assertion Thursday, which appears to blame the media for fueling whoever is responsible for the slew of pipe bombs, comes less than a day after he called for unity. “We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony. We can do it,” Trump told supporters at a political rally Wednesday. He then quickly blamed the media for the events. “The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,” he told the crowd in Wisconsin.
A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018
Suspicious packages have been sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA director John Brennan via CNN, and Rep. Maxine Waters of California. There are also reports this morning that one was sent to actor Robert De Niro, who has been a fierce Trump critic, as well as to former Vice President Joe Biden.
A manhunt to find the person or people behind the suspicious packages continues. Trump has vowed to “firmly” prosecute those responsible.
But Thursday’s tweet appeared to suggest the president was unwilling, at least publicly, to reverse his repeated attacks against his perceived political opponents and news organizations, rhetoric Trump has ratcheted up in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. Those attacks include the president baselessly accusing Democrats of funding the so-called “caravans” of migrants attempting to enter the United States, and repeatedly describing Democrats as “dangerous mobs.” Last week, Trump lavished praise on the Montana Republican who body-slammed a reporter, labeling him as “my kind of guy.”
