Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump Saturday of committing “arson,” leveling the charge in a speech and in a fundraising email hours later.
“If you play with matches, you can start a fire you can’t control,” Clinton said Saturday morning.” “That’s not leadership. It’s political arson.”
Clinton repeated the line in a fundraising email later Saturday, but without the adjective.
“That’s not leadership — it’s arson,” Clinton wrote. “The test of leadership and citizenship is the opposite: If you see bigotry, oppose it. If you see violence, condemn it. If you see a bully, stand up to him.”
The email asked supporters to help her raise $1 million.
The Democratic frontrunner spoke up a day after thousands of protesters succeeded in shutting down Trump’s rally in Chicago.
Clinton told a crowd Saturday in St. Louis, Mo., that Trump’s often-controversial rhetoric and encouragement of violence and aggression is “not only wrong, it’s dangerous.”
“It is no secret people are angry on both the left and the right,” Clinton said, a reference to support for outsider candidate Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, who has called for a political “revolution.”
She pinned unrest in the country on the lasting effects of the great recession. The economy and political system have failed to deliver results, Clinton said.
“Let’s go build the future that our country deserves together,” Clinton said.
“We’re not here to erect more walls,” unless they are used to build a house or commercial building, Clinton jabbing at Trump’s vow to build a wall along with southern border with Mexico.
“You don’t make America great by getting rid of everything that made America great in the first place,” Clinton said. “Our values, diversity, openness, these are strengths.”
