Senate

GOP senator to Trump: ‘Every American needs to be against political terrorism’

by Jordain Carney - 10/25/18 11:31 AM ET

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Wednesday called for President Trump to affirm that Americans “condemn all political terrorism,” after the president said the media is partly to blame for the anger in the country.

The Nebraska Republican said that while he hadn’t seen Trump’s Thursday morning tweets, the president and other public officials should stop the “nonsense language about the press is the enemy of the people.”

“We don’t refer to the press as the enemy of the people in America. This is a First Amendment society … We need the President and we need all other public officials to be reaffirming that basic idea about what unites us as Americans,” Sasse told CNN.

{mosads}”Every American needs to be against political terrorism,” he added. “The president has the biggest bully pulpit in America and he needs to affirm again that we condemn all political terrorism in America.”

Trump said on Thursday that “purposely false and inaccurate reporting” from the media is a “big part” of the anger in society. The tweet came a day after explosive devices were sent to prominent Democrats and CNN.

Trump on Wednesday condemned “political violence” and urged unity at a bill-signing ceremony at the White House.

Sasse said Americans, including the president, have an “absolute right” to disagree with a media article but “political violence is un-American, there is no place for it in America.”

The FBI confirmed on Thursday that it is investigating several suspicious packages sent to former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro.

Those investigations come a day after a package sent to CNN included the name of former CIA Director John Brennan. Packages were also intercepted before reaching the residences of former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and former Attorney General Eric Holder were also targeted, although Holder’s was sent back to the listed return address, a Florida office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.