President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican leaders are denouncing the suspicious packages sent to former 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and CNN’s New York bureau.
The White House called the attempted attacks “despicable.”
“The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
Responding to a tweet from Pence, who said the administration condemned the “despicable” actions and that “those responsible will be brought to justice,” Trump said, “I agree wholeheartedly!”
The United States Secret Service said Wednesday it intercepted two “suspicious packages” addressed to Obama and Clinton it discovered during “routine mail screening procedures” earlier this week.
Pence said in his tweet he was “grateful for swift response” of the US Secret Service, FBI and local law enforcement, who are investigating whether the two packages intended for Obama and Clinton are connected to the package targeting major Democratic donor George Soros earlier this week.
“Let me be clear, we condemn these attempted acts of violence in the strongest possible terms,” Pence said later, speaking at a campaign event in Pennsylvania Wednesday.
First lady Melania Trump, the President’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, and White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp all condemned the threats.
“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
House Speaker Paul Ryan echoed Sanders’ statement, saying that “those behind such reprehensible acts must be brought to justice.”
“We cannot tolerate any attempt to terrorize public figures,” Ryan tweeted.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who was seriously wounded from a gunshot last summer, said the attempted attacks “are beyond criminal, they are acts of pure terror.”
“Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else in our society,” the Louisiana Republican posted on Twitter. “I have experienced first-hand the effects of political violence, and am committed to using my voice to speak out against it wherever I can.”
Scalise added that this “cannot become the new normal.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell too condemned the incidents in a statement from his office saying, “As we continue to learn more, Americans are united in gratitude for the first responders — the Secret Service, the Postal Service, and other law enforcement — who protect our leaders and public figures from such unconscionable acts.”
