As of Thursday morning, authorities have found at least nine explosive devices sent to recipients such as former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, former CIA director John Brennan at CNN’s New York City headquarters, Democratic donor George Soros, and now, actor Robert De Niro, among others, in what appears to be a large-scale coordinated attack on President Trump’s most frequent targets. Anyone who was expecting Trump to take any responsibility for the attacks due to his own rhetoric however, shouldn’t hold their breath.
During a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday evening, Trump pointed the finger at everyone but himself. Without even mentioning the explosive device that was found at CNN headquarters, the president claimed, “The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.”
“Have to do it, have to do it,” he emphatically added.
Speaking from outside the Time Warner Center later Wednesday night, Anderson Cooper delivered a fiery call-out on Trump’s hypocrisy for not only blaming the media for the attacks, but completely neglecting to mention the package that was sent to CNN.
“The president speaking in Wisconsin, speaking quite hypocritically, I have to say, he talked about explosive devices sent to former government officials, he made no mention of an explosive device sent to this building behind me, the headquarters of CNN, a news organization he routinely attacks. He calls reporters the enemy of the American people, and yet, he said it’s the media’s fault for the kind of reporting that media organizations have been doing. What happened today was an act of terror, terror designed to kill or maim, to scare or to silence.”
“Terror only works when there is fear, we are not afraid, we are here, and we will be here tomorrow, and the day after, and will be here the day after that,” Cooper continued. “We have a job to do, and what someone tried to do here today, it only makes our resolve that much stronger.”
Although incredibly well said, the CNN anchor’s words will likely fall on deaf ears when it comes to right-wing extremists, one of whom may still be targeting prominent Democrats with packages containing bombs.