Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lit into Donald Trump Monday, blaming the Republican front-runner for the violence at his rallies.
Sanders specifically said his campaign had nothing to do with the protests against Trump in Chicago, despite the presence of a large number of the socialist’s supporters.
“What I am disturbed about is we have a major candidate for president of the United States, Donald Trump, who is literally inciting violence among his supporters. When he says that he’s prepared to pay the legal fees for somebody who sucker punches somebody, what he’s really essentially saying is, go do it, supporters. Go beat up people,” the Vermont senator said when asked about the recent violence at Trump events during a MSNBC town hall on Monday night.
Many of those who participated in violent protests of a Trump rally in Chicago were mobilized by MoveOn.org, a group that has endorsed Sanders. But Sanders insisted that neither he nor his campaign had anything to do with the uprising.
“My supporters will do this and do that, there was zero effort on the part of our campaign to organize any disruption at trump’s campaign,” Sanders said.
He added, “We respect our opponents. I know Marco Rubio and I know Ted Cruz and all these guys. But with Trump, what you are dealing with, and I say this without any joy, this guy’s a pathological liar.”
Clinton agreed with Sanders, calling the violence a “natural outgrowth” of the anger his campaign has been stoking for months.
“I think if you go back several months, he’s been building this incitement. he has been leading crowds in jeering protesters. he has been talking about punching people in the face,” Clinton told Chris Matthews during her portion of the MSNBC town hall.
The former secretary of state has condemned the Trump campaign’s rhetoric multiple times. She encouraged young people who disagree with Trump to protest his campaign in a “peaceful way,” as she encouraged citizens to show “wisdom and compassion toward one another.”
Sanders and Clinton will face off in multiple state primaries tomorrow as Democratic voters head to the polls in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and North Carolina.
