White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday that everyone has a role to play in condemning violence.
Outside the White House, Sanders was asked if President Donald Trump bears any responsibility for the numerous suspicious packages containing explosive devices being sent to high profile Democrats and Trump critics.
"Do you believe that the president bears any responsibility for what we have seen over the past two days, and does he regret any of the comments he has made about his opponents or does he at least regret the tone that he's taken?" one reporter asked.
"Look, the president's condemned violence in all forms. Has done that since day one, will continue to do that, but certainly feels that everyone has a role to play," Sanders responded.
Officials reported Wednesday morning that numerous suspicious packages were delivered or addressed to high profile individuals, including former 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama. Another device was discovered at CNN's headquarters in New York City and was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan. Suspicious packages have also been sent to Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and actor and Trump critic Robert De Niro.
Trump condemned the attempted bombings and called for unity on Wednesday, but on Thursday morning, the president tweeted out that a major factor of the heated political rhetoric is the "fake news" media.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1055418269270716418
One reporter asked if Trump would stop insulting his political opponents as he calls for unity.
"The president is going to continue to lay out the case and the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Americans have a choice to make and he's going to lay that out," Sanders said.
Another reporter pushed Sanders on the topic of Trump's rhetoric and brought up him calling Democrats "evil."
"A few weeks ago, he said the Democrats post-Kavanaugh were evil. Does he regret that statement?" the reporter asked.
"The president feels like we should call out despicable acts which is exactly what he had done over the last 24 hours," Sanders responded.
"Is evil an appropriate way to describe people?" the reporter followed up.
"It's a word people have used on your network a number of times not only to describe the president but many people who work in this administration. ... Day in, day out, there's a negative tone," Sanders said. "Ninety percent of the media attention around this president is negative, despite historic job creation, despite the fact our economy is booming, despite the fact trade deals that everybody said couldn't be made have been made."
"Yesterday, the very first thing that the president did was come out and condemn the violence," she added. "The very first thing your network did was come out and accuse the president of being responsible for it. That is not okay. The first thing should have been to condemn the violence."