Clinton, Sanders 'deeply distressed' by 'ugly' incident at Trump rally

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
(Image credit: Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both spoke out Thursday against the assault of a protester Wednesday night at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina.

John McGraw, 78, was charged Thursday with battery and disorderly conduct after video allegedly caught him punching protester Rakeem Jones, 26, in the face as he was being escorted outside by a police officer. "Count me among those who are truly distraught and even appalled by a lot of what I see going on, what I hear being said," Clinton told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "You know, you don't make America great by dumping on everything that made America great, like freedom of speech and assembly and the right of people to protest."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.