Trump was repeatedly interrupted during his speech at the Midland Theatre.
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The severe move by police marks yet another moment of conflict at a Trump rally.
It is far from clear that the violence in Chicago will loosen Trump’s hold on his millions of supporters.
Sanders said his supporters are not instigating trouble and called Trump “a pathological liar”.
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you?” he added.
The president also suggested Republicans did not even know what they stood for anymore, citing Trump products as an example of their bankrupt ideology.
In announcing the cancellation, the Trump campaign said he met with law enforcement officials after arriving in Chicago.
While Trump was speaking in Dayton, a man jumped a barricade behind the stage in an apparent effort to confront the GOP front-runner, but was unsuccessful. “I think a campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment when the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence, to punch people in the face”.
Trump supporters and protesters clashed so violently ahead of his rally in Chicago on Friday that The Donald ended up cancelling his appearance due to safety concerns. “When he talks about…”
During one of more than a dozen interruptions, Trump asked police to arrest the demonstrators, saying he would “file whatever charges you want”.
Sanders denies that his campaign was responsible for the disruption.
“No, it’s not going to happen in Cleveland, too much security”, said Rich Brink of Poland.
Sanders, the 74-year-old Democratic Senator from Vermont, who is running his presidential campaign on the slogan of democratic socialism, was quick to fire back.
The line of people hoping to attend the rally at the downtown theater snaked around the block Saturday afternoon. The group has endorsed Bernie Sanders, though has no direct connection to his campaign.
Besides mobilizing a big crowd, the Chicago protesters used some new tactics.
Last fall, Trump said a Black Lives Matter protester maybe “should have been roughed up”.
Trump’s events have always been intense. “That kind of just carried over to this”, he said.
He says he’s “going to start pressing charges against all these people”. “Hopefully, there’s a domino effect”. While Bernie Sanders has often taken aim at Trump’s divisive language, the GOP frontrunner is now coming under fire from his own party.
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“I don’t believe his policies are best for America”, said Adam Litzler. Even in Thursday night’s debate, all three of his remaining rivals – Rubio, Kasich and Texas Sen. Marco Rubio both said the ugliness at rallies has them re-thinking their pledge to support the Republican nominee, regardless of who it is. Trump has a significant lead in primary contests over the three remaining Republicans vying for the White House.
