President Trump on Friday took aim at Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder in a video address posted to Twitter, linking the two Democrats to rhetoric that, Republicans have claimed, promotes violence against conservatives.
{mosads}In a short video posted to his Twitter account, Trump ripped Clinton for her “horrible” remarks in a CNN interview last week, during which she said Democrats cannot be “civil” with a party that “wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about,” referring to the GOP.
He also took aim at Holder’s comments at a campaign event earlier this month where the former Obama administration attorney general riffed on former first lady Michelle Obama’s “when they go low, we go high” catch phrase. “When they go low, we kick them,” Holder is heard saying in Trump’s video. Holder later clarified in his speech that when he says to “kick them,” he doesn’t mean doing anything inappropriate or illegal.
“They’re losing it, and they shouldn’t be,” Trump says in the video. “The Democrats don’t like being called an angry mob, but really that’s what they’ve become.”
“They’ve gone so far left, they can’t even believe that they are over there,” the president continued, closing with the caption “#JobsnotMobs.”
Republicans have criticized Democrats in recent weeks over rhetoric from Holder, as well as other high-profile Democrats including Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), who Trump also features in the video. Some conservatives have suggested such comments have inflamed tensions between the parties and promoted violence ahead of the November midterms.
Holder and other Democrats have rejected the criticism.
Trump has been criticized on numerous occasions for rhetoric that critics have said seemingly promotes violence. The president, on Thursday, drew sharp backlash during a campaign rally in Missoula, Mont., during which he appeared to praise Rep. Greg Gianforte (R) for assaulting a reporter last year.
Gianforte pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and was sentenced to a 180-day deferred sentence, 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee.