'Media use pipe bomb case to score political points'
US President Donald Trump has accused the US news media of using reporting on the suspect in at least 14 bombs sent to some of his prominent critics to score political points against him. Hours after a Trump supporter, Cesar Sayoc, was arrested in Florida in the bomb case, Trump told a political rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, that political violence must never be tolerated.
"I will do all I can to stop it," he said. But any attempt to heal political divisions was quickly set aside as Trump renewed attacks on his usual targets; the news media and his Democratic opponents, reports Al Jazzera. "We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party," Trump said.
Trump appeared to be commenting on cable news blanket coverage of the bomb case and how the people targeted are frequently criticized by the president.
Trump was in Charlotte campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the hotly contested November 6 US congressional elections, with Republicans are trying to hang on to control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some in the crowd on Friday quickly chimed in with a cry that is a familiar one at Trump's political rallies: "CNN sucks."
