“Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” Donald Trump said at a rally in Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday night.
The Republican presidential hopeful also hinted that he knew something about the cause of the explosion. “It’s a terrible thing what’s going on in our world, what’s going on in our country, but we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant and we are going to end it,” Trump said.
There had been an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan at about 8:30 p.m. local time. The blast blew out windows in the area and injured more than 20 people, though there have been no reported fatalities.
The GOP nominee was then scolded by the press and by his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for saying that it was a bomb and implying that it was terrorism.
“Trump made the statement before local officials had publicly confirmed details of the incident or what caused the explosion. Typically, national political figures use caution when describing unfolding investigations and law enforcement actions,” reported CNN.
On her campaign plane, Hillary Clinton was asked, “Secretary Clinton, do you have any reaction to the fact that Donald Trump, immediately upon taking the stage tonight, called the explosion in New York a ‘bomb’?”
“Well, I think it’s important to know the facts about any incident like this. That’s why it’s critical to support the first responders, the investigators, who are looking into it trying to determine what did happen. I think it’s always wiser to wait until you have information before making conclusions,” Clinton said.
The Chelsea explosion was the second explosion of the day, after a small bomb blew up a garbage can in nearby New Jersey along a route where a benefit run for Marines was scheduled.
Hours after Trump said it was a bomb and implied that it was terrorism, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio conceded that it was an “intentional” explosion, but cautioned that it wasn’t necessarily terrorism.
At 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police told the Associated Press that they were investigating a second explosive device blocks away from the Chelsea explosion, this one involving a pressure cooker, wiring, and a cell phone — in other words, a bomb that could be triggered remotely, possibly by terrorists.
