Graham: I’m not going to blame Trump for ‘nut job’ who sent bombs to Dems

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday said President Trump shouldn’t be blamed for the “nut job” who sent explosive devices to prominent Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton and Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.).

In a pair of tweets, the senator compared the devices and suspicious packages to last year’s shooting at a Congressional Baseball Game practice attended by GOP lawmakers. That shooting was carried out by a former presidential campaign volunteer for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“I didn’t blame Bernie Sanders when a Bernie supporter shot Congressman Steve Scalise. And I’m not going to blame President @realDonaldTrump for this nut job,” Graham wrote. “I blame the individual(s) responsible — not someone else.”

I didn’t blame Bernie Sanders when a Bernie supporter shot Congressman Steve Scalise. And I’m not going to blame President @realDonaldTrump for this nut job.

I blame the individual(s) responsible –- not someone else.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 25, 2018

Graham’s comments come after the CNN President Jeff Zucker called on Trump to take responsibility for his rhetoric against Democrats and the mainstream media following an evacuation at CNN’s broadcast building in New York due to an explosive and suspicious powder in a package addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan.

{mosads}”The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter,” Zucker said in a statement. “Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

Brennan also appeared to blame Trump’s rhetoric for the attempted attacks, saying he hopes the event is a “turning point” for the president.

“Unfortunately, I think Donald Trump has not helped to encourage the type of civil discourse and public engagement,” Brennan told an audience at the University of Texas at Austin. “And his rhetoric — too frequently, I think — fuels these feelings and sentiments that now are bleeding over into potentially acts of violence.”

Trump denounced the bombing attempts Wednesday night at a campaign rally in Wisconsin and called for national unity.

“We are extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it,” the president said.

“I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify,” he added. “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 United States of America.”