In the last Republican debate and in his speech after his Super Tuesday wins, Donald Trump struck a decidedly calmer tone as if to prove he can be less brash and more presidential.
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“It’s a shame”, said Trump supporter Bill Tail, 43, of the Chicago suburb of Oaklawn.
US Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders has hit back after Republican front-runner Donald Trump said he had sent protesters to disrupt his rallies.
Trump’s visit played out during a final rush of campaigning ahead of five big state primaries on Tuesday that include Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.
He confirmed earlier Sunday that he was considering paying the legal fees of a North Carolina man charged with assault after video captured him sucker-punching a protester at a March 9 rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “You have no idea folks, you have no idea”, Trump said at the event. CNN’s Jake Tapper didn’t bother to challenge Trump’s claim, because when a member of the press is on the receiving end of a tidal wave of lies, it is hard to pick out what sounds like a small one in the live television moment. “I promise, I promise”, Trump said. That is not to say that Trump’s irresponsible, wild-eyed, and meat-headed rhetoric, which has included explicit calls for violence against his critics, is responsible for having provoked the protests.
About three dozen anti-Trump protesters had engaged in a prolonged shouting match along with Trump supporters along Main Street in the hours preceding Trump’s appearance. The next morning, a protester rushed the stage at a Trump rally outside of Dayton, forcing Secret Service agents to leap on stage and form a protective circle around him.
“What caused the protests at Trump’s rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama”.
“We are continuing to look at the totality of these circumstances… including the potential of whether there was conduct on the part of Mr. Trump or the Trump campaign which rose to the level of inciting a riot”, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said Monday, according to the Associated Press. I thought this was a strong move by Trump to position himself for a general election run.
The incident comes a day after Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Chicago after supporters and protesters began scuffling.
Trump has placed the blame for the disturbances – which briefly triggered scenes reminiscent of the civil unrest of the 1960s with bottles hurled at officers and people trying to take over the stage – squarely on protesters he styled as “thugs”.
The protesters yelled, “Free education” and held signs saying “Make America Kind Again” while the Trump backers yelled, “Build that wall” and “USA!”
A planned political rally for Friday night in Chicago had to be canceled due to concerns for safety as police struggled to keep angry protesters and supporters separated.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s closest competitor in delegate count, was careful to criticize protesters for their methods, but said Trump encourages an essentially un-American atmosphere.
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“This has a lot to do with jobs”, Trump said. “It’s mathematically impossible for either one of them to win 1,237” delegates, he said, referring to Kasich and Rubio.
