COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Showing few signs of trying to ease the nation’s tense political atmosphere, Republican front-runner Donald Trump is standing by his antagonistic campaign rhetoric, rejecting any responsibility for violence at his rallies and defending his supporters who have been charged with assaulting protesters.
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Speaking to Fox News after the events, Mr Trump denied using hate speech or playing any part in fostering division.
“So if you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ’em”, he said at the time. “To call me a communist is a lie”.
Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to blame organized “thugs” who “shut down our First Amendment rights” for the violent clashes that led to his Chicago rally being closed down.
Some participants said they chose to drive the 130 miles from Chicago after the abrupt cancellation of that event.
Donald Trump’s planned rally in Chicago Friday was canceled, but not before ugly scenes played out between Trump supporters and people who had come to protest the event.
“I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully”. “With Bernie, he should really get up and say to his people: stop”. Cruz said that Trump’s campaign “encourages violence”.
Trump’s position on his supporters’ behavior is unclear.
Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department said Sunday they are reviewing videos and officer statements following Friday’s arrest of CBS News journalist Sopan Deb outside the Trump rally.
DiMassimo’s arrest is the latest in a series of recent incidents of violence at Trump rallies. “He was very loud, very disruptive”, Trump said.
While he has repeatedly said he does not condone violence, the property mogul attempted to justify the anger that fuelled it.
“I don’t even call them protesters”.
Declaring that “nothing is 100 percent”, Gov. John Kasich raised the possibility he might not support NY billionaire Donald Trump if he emerges as the Republican presidential nominee at the party convention in Cleveland.
The man who was punched has told The Associated Press that he and others went to the event as observers, not protesters.
At an earlier stop this weekend, Trump aimed directly at Kasich, calling him “a baby” and deliberately mispronouncing the governor’s Czech surname. “The man got carried away, he was 78 years old, he obviously loves his country, and maybe he doesn’t like seeing what’s happening to the country”, Trump said.
“I’ve actually instructed my people to look into it, yes”, Trump said.
Cruz, a conservative agitator in the halls of Congress against both Republican and Democratic leaders, said Trump “would be a disaster” in a general election matchup against Clinton.
Demonstrators against U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stand in the rain outside of a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 13, 2016.
Trump has responded to the tensions at his rallies by doubling down on his aggressive rhetoric.
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Trump said supporters are “not angry about something I’m saying – I’m just a messenger”. When you see at his rallies, people sucker-punch folks.
