GOP leaders rush to condemn ‘terrorizing acts’

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders rushed Wednesday to decry the suspected explosive devices sent to three Democrats and a cable network that President Donald Trump has demonized repeatedly, saying that such acts cannot be tolerated despite the corrosive tone on the campaign.

Packages containing devices addressed to former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were intercepted by the Secret Service, while an explosive device was found at the home of liberal philanthropist George Soros and a suspicious package was found at CNN’s New York headquarters. All four are regular targets of sharp criticism and name-calling from Trump and his conservative allies.

With just 13 days until the midterm elections, the explosive packages appeared to prompt some politicians to pause to reflect on the nation’s poisonous political atmosphere in a final campaign notable for apocalyptic imagery, violent confrontations and Trump’s mantra that the GOP is “the party of jobs and the Democrats are the party of mobs.”

The White House characterized the mailing of explosive devices as “terrorizing acts,” while prominent elected Republicans condemned it as a cowardly attack aimed at terrorizing public figures. There were universal calls to bring anyone behind the acts to justice quickly.

Clinton, speaking at a fundraiser for congressional candidate Donna Shalala in Coral Gables, Florida, thanked the Secret Service for intercepting the package sent to her home and called it “a troubling time.”