Sarah Sanders: Trump ‘could not have been more presidential’ in response to bomb attacks

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that President Trump “could not have been more presidential” when he was addressing the string of attempted bomb attacks targeting prominent Democrats.

Trump on Wednesday initially responded by retweeting Vice President Pence, who condemned the actions and called the acts “cowardly” and “despicable.” Trump added in sharing Pence’s tweet, “I wholeheartedly agree!”

“Let’s not get lost in who is responsible for this heinous act,” Sanders said in an interview Thursday morning on “Fox & Friends.”  “It is the person who made and sent these suspicious packages.”

The White House on Wednesday called the perpetrators “cowards” and promised to punish those responsible.{mosads}

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump spoke briefly about the suspicious packages during an event on opioids at the White House, condemning “acts or threats of political violence” and making a call for unity.

“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,” Trump said at a White House event.

However on Thursday morning, Trump returned to using his label of “fake news” — which has prompted criticism from journalists — while going after The New York Times for its latest story on the president’s cell phone habits. 

A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

At a rally in Wisconsin Wednesday night, Trump said the media “also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostilities and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.”

The Secret Service and other authorities at the federal and local level say suspicious packages were addressed to prominent Democrats such as former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The packages were intercepted late Tuesday and on Wednesday.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle strongly denounced the suspicious packages containing potentially explosive devices.

Top Democrats on Wednesday slammed Trump for his response to the attempted attacks, saying his “words ring 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.

Former CIA Director John Brennan, meanwhile, ripped President Trump on Thursday for a tweet blaming the media for anger in society, saying that Trump should “look in the mirror.”

Brennan, a frequent Trump critic who was the intended target of the pipe bomb delivered to CNN’s offices on Wednesday, said that the president’s rhetoric was “disgraceful.”

Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror. Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful. Clean up your act….try to act Presidential. The American people deserve much better. BTW, your critics will not be intimidated into silence. https://t.co/cS5qNiuU7o

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) October 25, 2018

–Updated at 11:40 a.m.