President Trump said the media has a major role to play whether they want to or not in the "tone and civility" of the current political climate. The president said there has been an "effort" by the media in recent hours to use the actions of the man who mailed bombs to "score political points" against him.



"We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party," Trump said at the top of his campaign rally speech in Charlotte.



"When a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to murder congressional Republicans and severely wounded -- a great man named Steve Scalise and others -- we did not use that heinous attempt at mass murder for political gain, because that would have been wrong. It would have been the wrong thing to do," the president added.













PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Before going any further, I want to briefly address the packages and devices that have been mailed to a number of high-profile individuals.



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As you know, the suspect has been captured. Great job.



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And is now in federal custody. These terrorist actions must be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. We all know that.



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And I want to applaud the FBI, the Secret Service, and all state, local, federal officials for their incredible work in this investigation. I mean, they did an incredible job.



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This is finding, truly, a needle in a haystack when you think about it. We love our police, and we love our law enforcement.



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Political violence must never, ever be allowed in America, and I will do everything in my power to stop it.



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In recent days, we've had a broader conversation about the tone and civility of our national dialogue. Everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction.



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We must unify as a nation in peace, love, and in harmony. The media has a major role to play.



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Whether they want to or not.



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AUDIENCE: CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!



TRUMP: And they do, indeed. They have a major role to play as far as tone and as far as everything.



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And we all say this in all sincerity, but the media's constant unfair coverage, deep hostility...



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... and negative attacks -- you know that -- only serve to drive people apart and to undermine healthy debate. For example...



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... we have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party.



(AUDIENCE BOOS)



Yet when a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to murder congressional Republicans and severely wounded -- a great man named Steve Scalise and others -- we did not use that heinous attempt at mass murder for political gain, because that would have been wrong. It would have been the wrong thing to do.



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Many other examples could be brought up. Nor do we blame the Democrat Party every time radical leftists seized and destroy public property and unleash violence and mayhem. Yet the media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.



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It's what our movement is. Our supporters are some of the most honest, wonderful, like you...



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... principled, hard-working, patriotic people on the face of God's Earth.



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They pay their taxes, follow our laws, care for their neighbors, go to church and contribute to charity, and they are loyal to our country. All they want is a government that is loyal to them in return.



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And that's what they are getting from me. And that's what they're getting from my administration. And you know that.



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But despite all of this, just came out, 94 percent of the press I get is negative. Even when I do something wonderful, it's negative.