Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for an end to “division,” “hatred” and “ugliness” as Democratic leaders denounced suspected explosive devices mailed to a number of prominent party members including former President Obama.
“This country has to come together. This division, this hatred, this ugliness has to end,” Biden wrote on Twitter.
Biden joined a chorus of national Democrats and potential 2020 presidential candidates who spoke out forcefully against the threats against public officials.{mosads}
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) thanked law enforcement and warned that such violence “has no place in our democracy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another potential 2020 candidate, echoed Warren’s message and called the threats “deeply disturbing.”
“In this country we battle with words and ideas, not fists and bombs,” he tweeted. “Acts of violence, appeals to violence and condoning violence have no place in American society.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) decried the packages as “targeted acts of terror” that showed “despicable cowardice.”
The Secret Service said it intercepted explosive devices earlier Wednesday that were addressed to Obama in Washington, D.C., as well as another for Hillary and Bill Clinton the previous day in New York.
Hillary Clinton addressed the bomb threat during a stop in Florida on Wednesday to support gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D). She lamented the “deep divisions” in politics, and urged Americans to “do everything we can to bring the country together.”
“We also have to elect candidates who will try to do the same,” she added.
Bill Clinton later thanked law enforcement for its efforts.
Authorities also responded on Wednesday after a suspicious device was mailed to the New York offices of CNN.
The package was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who appears occasionally on the network but works as a contributor for MSNBC.
Capitol Police later in the day said they had intercepted a suspicious package mailed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), one of Trump’s most vocal critics on Capitol Hill.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder was also the addressee on a similar package, though it was sent to the wrong address.
A similar device was discovered in the mailbox at the home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros late Monday. Soros is an ardent supporter of liberal causes and Democratic politicians, and is the subject of conspiracy theories pushed by some conservative figures.
President Trump on Wednesday afternoon called the attacks “egregious” and “abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans.” He called for national unity, and said a “major federal investigation” is underway.
“I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify. We have to come together and send one very clear, strong unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the Untied States of America,” Trump said at a White House event where he signed an anti-opioid addiction bill into law.
Some critics have suggested the president has inflamed political divisions by labeling Democrats an “angry mob” and attacking CNN and other outlets as the “enemy of the people.”
Republicans and Democrats have been quick to condemn the suspicious packages this week and have called for cooler heads to prevail.