Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday repeatedly fought back against accusations that he is to blame for the violence that has broken out between supporters and protestors at his campaign rallies, especially in recent days.
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Sanders also focused on his race against Hillary Clinton, as he looked ahead to contests coming up in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri.
Republican candidate Marco Rubio, now in third place, has said a win in his home state Florida is vital to prevent the Republican nomination being “hijacked” by Mr Trump.
“Our rallies are so big and we have so many people, I never hear their voices”, the billionaire property developer and former reality television star said.
The scenes in Chicago followed several weeks of violence at Trump rallies, in which protesters and journalists have been punched, tackled and hustled out of venues, raising concerns about security leading into the November 8 presidential election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama.
Trump has called for protesters at his rallies to be arrested, and blamed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for the protests. “He’s not tough enough, he’s not sharp enough”, Trump said at an event outside Dayton. “With Bernie, he should really get up and say to his people: stop”.
“We’re not provoking. We want peace….”
Sanders is among a growing chorus of Trump critics that say the Republican candidate’s rhetoric has incited the violence that occurs at his rallies.
John McGraw was charged with assault and later with communicating a threat after he said he enjoyed hitting “that loudmouth” and threatened next time “to kill him”.
But Cruz said he would stick to his promise to stand by the eventual Republican nominee, including Trump.
Many of his supporters are angry, Trump said, but only at the country’s failures that have damaged the economy. Along with Trump and his supporters, the other Republican candidates criticized the behavior of the Chicago protesters. “But despite that, I don’t condone it and we don’t want that to happen”, he said. And this is the guy who Trump is going paying legal fees for?
“The reason there’s tension at my rallies is that these people are sick and exhausted of this country being run by incompetent people that don’t know what they’re doing on trade deals, where our jobs are being ripped out of our country”, he told NBC News. But an attorney for the Rubio supporter who filed the challenge says there’s no 5 p.m. deadline specified in state law, the Post-Gazette said.
“Even [Trump’s] Republican colleagues make this point: His language, his intonation, when he talks about carrying people out in stretchers … this is a man who keeps implying violence, and then you end up getting what you seek”.
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Appearing later on the same program, Sanders said Trump was the liar.
