Sanders, Clinton Condemn Trump For Inciting Violence At His Rallies

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During a Sunday night CNN town hall, Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Hillary Clinton slammed Donald Trump for inciting and encouraging violence at his campaign rallies.

Sanders addressed accusations from Trump that the Vermont senator’s supporters has sparked chaos at his rallies with protests.

“I hesitate to say this because I really don’t like to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Sanders said that while he believes Americans have the right to protest, he said he would never encourage people to disrupt campaign events. He then noted that Trump is considering paying the legal fees for a supporters who punched a black protester.

“What that means is that Donald Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, that’s okay, I’ll pay the legal fees,” Sanders said on Sunday night. “That is an outrage and I would hope that Mr. Trump tones it down big time and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the American political process.”

Clinton also placed blame on Trump for the chaos and violence at his campaign events.

“It’s clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear,” she told Tapper. “He actually incites violence in the way he urges his audience on, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills.”

She added that Trump “has been incredibly bigoted toward so many groups.”

The former secretary of state also said that Trump has been committing “political arson.”

“He has lit the fire, then he throws his hands up and claims he shouldn’t be held responsible. He should be held responsible,” she said.

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