Trump on bombs: Don’t blame me
Washington— President Donald Trump lamented Friday that the news media was more focused on covering “this ‘Bomb’ stuff” rather than politics, a development he asserted was slowing Republican momentum ahead of the Nov. 6 midterms, and said he does not think he bears blame for the serial bombing attempts.
“No, not at all,” Trump said, when asked by reporters whether he is to blame for the actions of the alleged bomber, who targeted national Democrats and figures who have been critical of Trump on television and elsewhere.
“There’s no blame, there’s no anything,” Trump said as he left the White House for a political rally in North Carolina. He added that the gunman who shot and badly wounded Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., last year “was a supporter of a different party.”
“I think I’ve been toned down, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said when asked whether he would moderate his attacks on political adversaries after the attempted bombings.
Asked about pro-Trump stickers or signs on the van allegedly driven by the suspect arrested Friday, Trump said: “I did not see my face on the van. I don’t know, I heard he was a person who preferred me over others.”
Trump also said that coverage of the mail bombs had interfered with Republican “momentum” ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, echoing a complaint he had earlier voiced on Twitter.
“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics,” Trump said in a midmorning tweet. “Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!”
His tweet came about an hour before federal authorities announced an arrest in Florida of a man suspected of sending the potentially explosive devices to public figures, the latest of whom included Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.
As of Friday afternoon, more than a dozen devices had been found by law enforcement. None have detonated, but all have pushed officials onto high alert as they worry about additional devices being delivered.
At the outset of a White House event early Friday afternoon, Trump took a different tone than in his tweet, praising law enforcement officers for their swift work and calling for national unity.
“The bottom line is that Americans must unify, and we must show the world that we are united together in peace and love and harmony as fellow American citizens,” Trump said. “There is no country like our country, and every day we are showing the world just how truly great we are.”
The president also promised the prosecution of anyone responsible for sending the explosive devices “to the fullest extent of the law.”
“These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country,” he said at the outset of a previously scheduled event for young conservative African-American leaders.