Republican presidential front-ruer Donald Trump on Saturday encountered more violence on the campaign trail when somebody got too close to the front-ruer at an Ohio rally and Secret Service agents rushed the stage, one day after violence forced Trump to cancel a rally in Chicago.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said a man tried to breach the security buffer at the event and that he was removed “rapidly and professionally."
Those attending the large, boisterous rally, at an airport outside Dayton, Ohio, cheered “Trump, Trump, Trump” during the brief episode in which four agents surrounded the candidate.
Trump retued to the campaign trail Saturday by ignoring calls for him to take responsibility for the violence that cancelled the Chicago rally and instead blamed left wing rivals and “wise guys” for the “plaed” and “professionally-staged” protests.
“My people are nice. My people are great,” Trump told the Ohio crowd. “Don’t let them rip you away from your position. These are bad people. These are people who don’t want to make American great again.”
Trump’s GOP rivals this weekend are attempted to hold Trump responsible for the campaign chaos, as they try to stop him from wiing the GOP nomination.
“This is frightening,” candidate and Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio said Saturday before the Ohio event. “Leadership has never been about taking people’s anger and getting them to vote for you.”
Rubio also suggested he’s now unsure whether he could support Trump if he becomes the party nominee.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Saturday that Trump is “creating a toxic environment."
“I hope he’ll knock this off and stop trying to divide us,” Kasich also said, head of essentially make-or-break primaries Tuesday in Florida and Ohio.
Trump also held an event Saturday in Cleveland that was more subdued but nevertheless briefly interrupted by protestors. And he is scheduled to hold another Saturday evening in Missouri.
The Trump campaign has denied rumors about having cancelling an event in Cinciati, saying it was never on the schedule.
The violence at Trump's event at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion appeared to break out after the candidate cancelled his appearance, amid angry protests inside and outside the venue. Five people reportedly were arrested.
While Rubio pressed Trump to condemn the violence, he also acknowledged that Trump is being denied his free-speech rights and that some of the Chicago protesters could have been paid.
Trump said that professionally-made signs suggest the protests were professionally organized. And at least one liberal group has acknowledged using its listserv to encourage protestors to attend the event.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has the second most delegates in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, on Friday accused the front-ruer of inciting the restlessness that was seen in Chicago and other events.
A white male Trump supporter punched a black protestor at a recent event in Fayettville, N.C.
“Any campaign that disrespects the voters and a campaign that encourages violence … you create an environment that encourages this,” Cruz said.
Cruz was speaking to reporters at a Republican dier in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and waed that violence at these rallies weren’t going to stop.
“The candidate urges violence to punch people in the face. This is not going to be the last incident,” he said. “This is not how our politics should occur.”
Rubio on Friday argued that such violence does not occur at his rallies nor at those for Cruz, Kasich and Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Beie Sanders.
Trump said Friday defended his decision to cancel his rally Friday, saying he didn’t want to see “people get hurt” after protesters packed into the arena where it was scheduled to take place. Rally-goers and protesters squared off in isolated confrontations creating a chaotic environment.
Speaking later with Fox News, Trump said he had arrived in Chicago two hours earlier and about 25,000 people were trying to enter the area.
After meeting with law enforcement authorities, Trump decided to postpone the rally because he "didn't want to see people get hurt," he told Fox News.
He also said his First Amendment rights had been violated.
Trump retued to the First Amendment issue during a conversation with Fox News' Sean Haity.
"I have the right to speak and they (his supporters) have a right to listen," Trump said.
He also said that he was getting a lot of credit for canceling the event.
Hours earlier, Trump supporters and opponents stood calmly in a line together waiting to get inside. Police horses and barricades kept the bulk of the demonstrators across the street.
Trump opponents were protesting what they called his divisive Idea, particularly about Muslims and Mexicans. Dozens of UIC faculty and staff had petitioned university administrators to cancel the rally, citing conces it would create a "hostile and physically dangerous environment."
At one point, nearly 20 officers who had been maing barricades suddenly bolted for an intersection across a street bridge over a freeway -- where protesters shouted at and jostled with police already there. An officer was seen walking from that intersection with blood on his head. A police spokesman said later that he couldn't provide details.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.