All the targets have been vocal Trump critics.<\/b>
\nSince Monday, the authorities have recovered \u201csuspicious packages\u201d sent to nine people containing explosive devices meant for prominent American liberals.
A trail of pipe bombs on the East Coast \u2014 and in one occasion, the West Coast \u2014 have targeted former presidents, administration officials, an actor and a billionaire, all tied in some way to the Democratic Party \u2014 and all proven critics of President Donald Trump.
Here\u2019s who\u2019s received the bombs so far.
Soros, a billionaire whose Open Society Foundation is one of the nation\u2019s largest philanthropies, has also donated generously to Democrats. He has long been the target of right-leaning and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Most recently, Trump accused Soros of paying women to pretend to be the victims of sexual assault and protest Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Brennan\u2019s package was never delivered to him, as it was addressed to the CNN studio in Manhattan. Brennan does not work for CNN, but he frequently joins NBC and MSNBC as an analyst.
He doesn\u2019t shy away from criticizing Trump: He told MSNBC\u2019s Lawrence O\u2019Donnell this August that Trump is \u201cdangerous to our nation.\u201d The White House later revoked Brennan\u2019s security clearance.
Holder, whose bomb never reached him, hasn\u2019t been as much of a target for Trump as other intended bomb recipients., but after Holder called for Democrats to \u201ckick\u201d Republicans in the midterms earlier this month, Trump called him a \u201clowlife\u201d to the New York Post .
Under Obama, though, Holder was a frequent target of criticism by the Republican Party and right-wing media. This was in part due to the \u201cFast and Furious\u201d scandal, which was covered extensively in right-wing media; it was also because Holder, a close personal friend of Obama, often made blunt comments about race and racism that the president himself could not. ( Vox\u2019s Dara Lind wrote more about this in 2015 .)
Waters, a 14-term House member who represents California\u2019s 43rd Congressional District, has clashed frequently with Trump this year \u2014 most recently this summer when she encouraged liberals to confront Republicans in public places. She\u2019s ended up as something of a national face of the Democratic Party, and also a frequent target for Trump, who routinely refers to her in rallies and has criticized her in tweetstorms as a \u201clow IQ person.\u201d
De Niro has often been associated with the Democratic Party, supporting both Obama and Hillary Clinton during their candidacies. He\u2019s also been a fierce Trump critic, calling him \u201cblatantly stupid\u201d during his presidential campaign.
At the 72nd Tony Awards held earlier this year, De Niro received a standing ovation when he once more denounced Trump. \u201cI\u2019m gonna say one thing. Fuck Trump. It\u2019s no longer \u2018down with Trump.\u2019 It\u2019s \u2018fuck Trump.\u2019\u201d The president then retaliated on his Twitter feed, calling De Niro a \u201cLow IQ individual\u201d whom he believes to be \u201cpunch-drunk.\u201d
As the former two-term vice president and a frequently rumored 2020 presidential candidate, Biden is one of the nation\u2019s highest-profile Democrats. This March, Biden condemned Trump over his previous crude remarks about women, telling a crowd at the University of Miami: \u201cThey asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, \u2018If we were in high school, I\u2019d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.\u201d
In response to the event, Trump tweeted: \u201cCrazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn\u2019t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don\u2019t threaten people Joe!\u201d
The explosive device sent to the Obamas early Wednesday was successfully intercepted by the Secret Service before it reached them. The former president has long been a target of right-wing radicals, often receiving criticism from the current administration, too, over his policies.
The Clintons received a suspicious package at their home in upstate New York on Tuesday, which the Secret Service intercepted as well. The Clintons, like Soros, have long been the focus of right-wing conspiracy theories. While Hillary Clinton been relatively low-profile since the election, even now, when Trump mentions her name at rallies, his crowd of supporters starts to chant, \u201cLock her up!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 4.6<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: -0.3<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

TW posts: 29<\/div>\n

TW reposts: 18<\/div>\n

TW likes: 18<\/div>\n

TW sentiment: -10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n