US President Barack Obama on Tuesday has warned presidential candidates to avoid fueling tensions through "insults and incendiary language," and that the violent scenes playing out at rallies for Donald J. Trump threaten to tarnish "the American brand."
Speaking at the Capitol for the annual "Friends of Ireland" luncheon with lawmakers, Mr. Obama did not mention Mr. Trump by name, but he criticized both the protesters who have interrupted the candidate's campaign events and the violent response from Mr. Trump's supporters.
"The longer that we allow the political rhetoric of late to continue and the longer that we tacitly accept it, we create a permission structure that allows the animosity in one corner of our politics to infect our broader society," Obama said. "And animosity breeds animosity."
Obama expressed his concern with the nation's political discourse and the protests that have escalated to attacks at the Trump rallies. The candidate has spoken of barring Muslims from entering the country and deporting immigrants living here illegally. Obama pleaded for civility and said political leaders can either condone "this race to the bottom" or reject it.
"We have heard vulgar and divisive rhetoric aimed at women and minorities, and Americans that don't look like us or pray like us or vote like we do," Obama said. "We live in a country where free speech is one of the most important rights that we hold. In response to those events we've seen actual violence, and we've heard silence from too many of our leaders,"
Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Obama had decided to criticize Mr. Trump during the annual Capitol Hill celebration of Irish heritage because the camaraderie and fellowship at the event "is in stark contrast to the kind of vulgarity we see on the campaign trail."
Violence has broken out at Trump rallies in Chicago, North Carolina and Ohio as protesters increasingly seek to disrupt the events. On Friday, Mr. Trump canceled a rally in Chicago, sending thousands of people home, after his supporters clashed with protesters in an arena there.
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