Schiff says Trump ‘willfully fanning the flames’ of violence to help campaign

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that President Trump is “willfully fanning the flames” of violence amid clashes between protesters and counterprotesters over police brutality. 

“The president is willfully fanning the flames of this fire,” Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

“They believe this is helpful to him,” Schiff said, referring to Trump’s allies. 

“The president is only motivated by one thing: what is in it for him. He sees this violence and his ability to agitate more of it as useful to this campaign. What it does to the country, the loss of life, he doesn’t care,” Schiff added. 

Schiff’s comments came after police said one person in Portland, Ore., was fatally shot late Saturday after clashes between a Black Lives Matter protest and a caravan of Trump supporters. 

Protesters in Portland have been demonstrating daily for months after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Protests were reignited after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., on Monday. 

Trump tweeted, “GREAT PATRIOTS” early Sunday morning, sharing a video of the caravan of his supporters. 

Schiff said Trump “simply won’t act to stop violence” and will try to stoke the flames on social media and through other methods “because he believes the violence helps him.” 

“That is the sad and tragic truth about this and also of Trump’s presidency more generally,” Schiff said.