Democratic standard bearers Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton didn't mince words on Friday, slamming the president over tweets that threatened violence against protesters in Minneapolis who are demanding justice after the police killing of George Floyd.
President Trump had characterized the protesters as "thugs," writing late Thursday that he refused to "stand back and watch this happen to a great American City." Most controversially, Trump tweeted that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," prompting Twitter to swiftly attach a label to the tweet that said it "violated" the site's rules "about glorifying violence."
On Friday morning, Biden responded by expressing his anger that a black reporter for CNN was arrested by the Minneapolis police while "the white police officer who killed George Floyd remains free," adding "this, to me, says everything." Biden subsequently went after Trump for the threat against protesters:
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Clinton, too, blasted Trump on Friday for "calling for violence against American citizens":
The White House, for its part, responded with a tweet claiming that Trump "did not glorify violence" and that he "clearly condemned it."
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