After suspected mail bombs addressed to prominent Democrats and the New York office of news network CNN, President Donald Trump blamed the "Fake News" media for causing "a very big part of the anger we see in our society."
"It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description," Trump said in a tweet Thursday morning. "Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!"
Trump tweet
The president's accusation comes less than a day after a series of suspicious packages were intercepted by law enforcement, some of which they confirmed to contain explosive devices.
Manila envelopes were addressed to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Time Warner Center in Manhattan that houses CNN offices and Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, also received a package reportedly intended for ex-Attorney General Eric Holder, with her return address.
The first package with the same trappings, found Monday, was sent to the New York home of billionaire Democratic donor George Soros.
Around the time Trump sent his tweet Thursday morning, more alleged explosives were reported. One device was addressed to actor Robert de Niro, who has harshly criticized Trump on many occasions. Separately, law enforcement officials said a package was found this morning at a postal facility in New Castle, Delaware addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden, NBC News reported.
Trump's tweet lashing out at the media wasn't his first social media attack on the press on Thursday morning. Earlier, Trump said The New York Times' story that China has been eavesdropping on some of his phone calls was "soooo wrong!"
"The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it."
trump tweet 2
The tweets offer a return to Trump's pugnacious stance on the so-called mainstream media, after he appeared to soften his tone during remarks at the White House and at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday.
"Threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States," Trump said before speaking about the opioid crisis at a bill signing event.
"Such conduct must be fiercely opposed and prosecuted," Trump said later that evening at the rally. "There is one way to settle our disagreements, it's called peacefully, at the ballot box."
But the media also "has a responsibility to do more to set a civil tone," Trump said, "and to stop the endless hostility and constant, negative, and oftentimes false, attacks and stories. Have to do it. They've got to stop."
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