Pipe bombs were sent to several prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, setting off an intense investigation on Wednesday into whether figures vilified by the right were being targeted.
The F.B.I. said the devices were similar to one found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor, in a New York City suburb.
In the center of Manhattan, the Time Warner Center, an elegant office and shopping complex, was evacuated because of a pipe bomb sent to CNN, which has its New York offices there. It was addressed to John O. Brennan, a critic of President Trump who served as Mr. Obama’s C.I.A. director.
None of the devices harmed anyone, and it was not immediately clear whether any of them could have. One law enforcement official said investigators were examining the possibility that they were hoax devices that were constructed to look like bombs but would not have exploded.
The F.B.I. said the devices were similar to one found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor, in a New York City suburb.
Coming less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the discovery of the pipe bombs reverberated across a country already on edge, stirring anew questions about whether political discourse had grown too vitriolic.
Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mr. Soros and CNN have all figured prominently in right-wing political attacks — many of which have been led by Mr. Trump. He has often referred to major news organizations as “the enemy of the people” and has shown contempt for CNN.
Mr. Trump, speaking at the White House on Wednesday, called the attempted bombings “despicable acts.”
“In these times we have to unify,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”
He continued in the same vein later Wednesday at a rally in Wisconsin, encouraging “all sides to come together in peace and harmony,” before taking aim at the news media.
“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks,” Mr. Trump said.
Mrs. Clinton, in an address to a crowd of about 200 Democratic donors in Florida, said: “It is a troubling time, isn’t it, and it’s a time of deep divisions and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together.”
In Manhattan, Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attempted bombings “an effort to terrorize” and vowed the city’s residents “won’t allow terrorism to change us.”
But Jeff Zucker, the CNN worldwide president, accused Mr. Trump of demonizing journalists.
“The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter,” Mr. Zucker said.
Credit: The New York Times