Former McCain adviser: Trump has ‘stoked a cold civil war’ in America

Former McCain adviser Steve Schmidt on Wednesday blamed President Trump’s rhetoric for the explosives sent to prominent Democrats this week, saying the president has “stoked a cold civil war” in the U.S.

Schmidt’s comments come as suspicious packages containing explosives were sent to Democratic figures including the Clintons, the Obamas, mega-donor George Soros, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), former Attorney General Eric Holder and former CIA Director John Brennan, as well as sent to CNN headquarters in New York. 

{mosads}Each of these targets have been publicly mocked and antagonized by the president. 

“Trump has stoked a cold civil war in this Country,” Schmidt, an MSNBC contributor who has renounced the GOP, wrote on Twitter. “His rallies brim with menace and he has labeled journalists as enemies of the people. That someone would seek to kill their political enemies is not aberrational but rather the inevitable consequence of Trumps incitement.” 

Trump has stoked a cold civil war in this Country. His rallies brim with menace and he has labeled journalists as enemies of the people. That someone would seek to kill their political enemies is not aberrational but rather the inevitable consequence of Trumps incitement.

— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) October 24, 2018

Trump on Thursday morning tweeted that “mainstream media” is to blame for the “anger we see today in our society.”

“The targets are political, not coincidental,” Schmidt wrote. “It looks like someone finally took Trump both literally and seriously.”

As of Thursday morning, authorities had intercepted nine packages bearing similar characteristics. The FBI has launched an investigation into who is behind the attacks. 

None of the explosives, described as crude pipe bombs, detonated before authorities found them.

Democrats immediately began to tie the attacks to incendiary GOP rhetoric, which has sometimes positioned the targeted figures as evil or immoral. 

When Trump on Wednesday afternoon called for national unity following the attacks, top Democratic leaders called his message “hollow.”

“Time and time again, the President has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and his actions,” Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in a joint statement. “President Trump’s words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence.” 

Republicans have hit back that both sides are to blame for the country’s aggravated political divisions.