GOP front-runner Donald Trump denies accounts that he is fanning the flame of violence at his campaign rallies.
“In many cases I do lower the temperature,” Trump told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“Or I tell the police ‘please take it easy’ when people are punching the police and trying to hurt people,” Trump said.
“When I say things like ‘I’d like to punch them,’ frankly this was a person who was absolutely violent and was like a crazed individual,” he said.
Both his GOP and Democratic presidential rivals have called for Trump to tone down his rhetoric, saying it is provoking violence and confrontation.
Trump told the program that much of the disruption in Chicago was due to his Democratic rivals, Bernie Sanders and a lesser extent Hillary Clinton.
He said Sanders-backed protesters were to blame for his decision to shut down a rally in Chicago on Friday for fear of violence.
