Clinton Strategist Refutes Claims Democrats Are Responsible for Violence at Trump Rallies

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster refuted claims that Democrats are responsible for inciting violence at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies, saying the blame lays squarely on the rhetoric of the GOP candidate.

“Donald Trump, day after day, on the stump, was inciting people,” Joel Benenson told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.” “We have video of Donald Trump saying, ‘punch him in the mouth. I want him carried out on a stretcher.’”

Over the past week, Trump frequently referred to a secretly recorded video recently released by conservative activist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas Action. The video appears to show a Democratic operative bragging about deploying troublemakers at Trump rallies.

Benenson confirmed to Stephanopoulos that two Democratic operatives associated with the video have resigned.

He also said he is “pretty confident” that there are not any others engaged in such activities.

Referring to O’Keefe, the Clinton campaign strategist said, “We’re talking about a guy who has a track record of doctoring videos.”

Benenson added that if the Trump campaign wants to talk about O’Keefe instead of the Republican candidate, “it’s showing a sign of desperation” in the last weeks before the election.

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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