On Monday, President Trump continued to defend a group of his supporters who were filmed harassing Joe Biden’s campaign bus over the weekend.
“This story is FALSE,” Trump tweeted Monday morning. “They did nothing wrong. But the ANTIFA Anarchists, Rioters and Looters, who have caused so much harm and destruction in Democrat run cities, are being seriously looked at!”
Video filmed Friday shows two vehicles collide with each other as a caravan of trucks and SUVs with Trump flags surrounds the Biden campaign bus. Multiple events featuring the campaign bus were canceled as a result.
Neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris were on the campaign bus as it toured the state. The FBI is investigating the incident, according to the Texas Tribune.
Trump first defended the caravan of supporters on Sunday, calling them “patriots” who “did nothing wrong.”
It’s not the first time Trump has defended or encouraged violence from his supporters.
In 2016, Trump promised to pay for the legal bills of supporters who “knocked the crap” out anyone protesting his rallies. Last year, when a supporter at one of his rallies in Texas yelled out that migrants should be shot (three months before the El Paso Walmart white nationalist terror attack) Trump made light of the comment and said, “That’s only in the Panhandle, you can get away with that statement.”
And most recently during the presidential debate in September, Trump refused to condemn white nationalists and racists, instead telling the rightwing terror group Proud Boys to, “stand back and stand by.”
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
