Trump decries 'political violence' after years of stoking it  

Amid disturbing reports that explosive devices were sent to some of the president’s top political enemies by one or more unknown persons, Trump’s critics say he has a reckless penchant for, at a minimum, celebrating violence against his enemies — and, at worst, inciting it.

But the president embraced a very different message on Wednesday, decrying “political violence” and presenting himself as a bipartisan healer during remarks at the White House, touching off an unexpected national debate about political discourse that itself quickly grew divisive, with left and right each accusing the other of bad faith.

“Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective,” a staid Trump said Wednesday night at the start of a rally in Wisconsin, adding later, “By the way, do you see how nice I’m behaving today? Have you ever seen this?”

Trump’s solemn remarks were a jarring contrast with his typical raucous political rallies, where he regularly whips his supporters into a frenzy by mocking his critics and political opponents.

In Trump’s world, Clinton should be imprisoned, Obama “founded” ISIS, CNN is “fake news,” billionaire George Soros is funding liberal protesters and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who called on activists to confront administration officials, should “be careful what you wish for.”

Suspicious packages, some of which reportedly included explosive devices, were sent to all five of those Democrats, prompting outrage from Trump’s critics.

“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement. “The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Trump’s condemnations of the attacks “ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence.”

“Time and time again, the president has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and his actions,” they said.

Despite Trump’s sober tone Wednesday, few around him expect him to change fundamentally over the longer term. One person close to the president simply laughed when asked whether Trump would scrap the divisive rhetoric that helped send him to the White House.

And during his Wednesday rally, Trump couldn’t help but take some shots at the media and the Democrats.

“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,” he said on the same day that CNN evacuated its New York office after an unknown person delivered an explosive device to the news outlet. “They’ve got to stop.”

Later, Trump accused Democrats of being soft on illegal immigration and joked, “Go out and vote. Now, if you’re going to vote Democrat, don’t bother.”

Earlier Wednesday, as the suspicious-package story blanketed the cable television airwaves, Trump expressed outrage about the incidents, stressing that the “safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority.”

“I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America,” he said, speaking at a previously scheduled event on opioids.

He continued, “We’re extremely angry, upset and unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it.”

First lady Melania Trump, speaking at the beginning of the event, echoed that sentiment. “We cannot tolerate those cowardly attacks, and I strongly condemn all that choose violence,” she said.

In addition to demonizing several recipients of the packages, Trump has applauded supporters who assaulted protesters at his 2016 campaign events and characterized Democrats as leading an “angry, ruthless, unhinged mob.”

While many liberals have outright accused Trump of inciting political violence himself, conservatives have also pointed a finger back at Democrats, in what promised to become a larger debate about American political discourse ahead of the midterm elections.

They note that some Democrats, including Waters, have called on Trump critics to confront administration officials in public spaces like restaurants and denounce administration policies. Some conservatives complained Wednesday that liberals have been quick to use words like “fascist” and “Nazi” to describe Trump and his allies.

At the Wednesday rally, Trump made a veiled reference to his frustrations with liberals’ rhetoric.

“No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains,” he said, adding, “We should not mob people in public space or destroy public property.”

One former senior White House official who spoke to Trump officials Wednesday said the Trump team would note that the president’s children have been subjected to death threats and themselves received suspicious packages, calling it “outrageous” to link the bombs to Trump.

“We don’t really know what’s going on here, and it would be odd to start placing blame before we really know what people are being blamed for,” said Yuval Levin, acting president of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. “Trump’s tone is unbecoming of a president and it’s certainly damaging to the political culture, but you would have to make some connection here before placing blame.”

The former White House official said that Republicans also plan to remind the public about a shooting last year at a congressional baseball practice — carried out by a left-wing activist — that nearly claimed the life of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).

And Trump himself has argued that the true threat of violence in America comes from the left — particularly the far-left movement antifa.

In a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders in August, he warned that Democrats “will overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently” if they win back the House. “When you look at antifa and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people,” he added.

Other White House officials on Wednesday condemned the bomb packages, including Vice President Mike Pence, who tweeted a condemnation which, unlike Trump’s remarks, explicitly named several of the targets, including CNN. (Trump retweeted the tweet, adding “I agree wholeheartedly!”)

“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. (Sanders did not immediately respond to a request for comment about criticism of Trump’s past divisive rhetoric.)

Trump was briefed on the suspicious packages on Wednesday. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, FBI Director Christopher Wray, U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles were among the officials who participated in the briefing.

In the wake of the reports of suspicious packages, Republicans and Democrats alike briefly hit the pause button on an acrimonious campaign season, coming together — at least for a moment — to call for civility.

They included Scalise, who wrote on Twitter: “Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else in our society.”

Even the president’s often-combative son, Eric, tweeted a message of sympathy for the Democrats who were targeted — and said that he too had been sent suspicious packages.

“As someone who has been on the receiving end of [threatening] packages, I can tell you how disgusting these acts are! America is better than this,” he wrote. “These acts should be condemned by all and I hope they throw any individual caught in jail, for a very long time.”

As the latest debate about political speech unfolded, insiders from both parties expressed doubt that the president, for one, would change his rhetorical ways.

“It’ll never happen. It is who he is,” said GOP strategist Alex Castellanos.

“You really can’t have the good of Trump without the disruption because that disruption is his core and the very reason people sent him to Washington,” he said. “They sent him to Washington to break all of the china. Occasionally a piece or two is grandma’s prized piece on the shelf.”

Eliana Johnson contributed to this report.