Trump rhymes with thump – but is it true that the President of the United States put an assassination target on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, among others?

The apparent attempt on the lives of a number of Trump foes – via the delivery of a series of pipe bombs, and foiled by Secret Service agents – is being firmly blamed on the President, on the basis that he has a history of inciting violence among his supporters in general, and specifically setting up Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton as enemies of the people.

Pipe bombs were also used to target news network CNN, former head of the CIA John Brennan (who has been brutally critical of Mr Trump) and billionaire and liberal activist George Soros – one of the men most reviled by the conservative right.

Mr Soros has been wrongly accused of being a Nazi by Donald Trump Jr, while Mr Trump’s attack dog, attorney Rudy Giuliani, this month retweeted a post calling Mr Soros “the anti-Christ”.

Alexander Soros, Mr Soros’s son, and deputy chair of the Open Society Foundations, penned an op-ed on Thursday accusing Mr Trump of bringing in a “new normal of political demonisation” that contributed to the wave of bomb threats.

Evidence suggests he’s done more than that

Obviously, The New Daily isn’t suggesting Mr Trump is directly behind these attempted bombings.

But the record certainly shows he has a case to answer for casually, even joyfully, encouraging violence as a legitimate tool to be embraced by his followers.

But, as detailed below, there were instances where he made claims that, to a fevered patriot, could have been read as an invitation to murder Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNtgHi9d3Bg

Mr Trump’s unapologetic penchant for mob violence became evident early in his presidential campaign.

In November 2015, at a rally in Alabama, Mr Trump said about a protester: “Get him the hell out of here, will you, please? Get him out of here. Throw him out!”

In February 2016, Mr Trump told a crowd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa: “So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Just knock the hell … I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.”

In March 2016, Kansas City, talking about someone who had rushed the stage: “I don’t know if I would have done well, but I would have been out there fighting, folks. I don’t know if I’d have done well, but I would’ve been – boom, boom, boom. I’ll beat the crap out of you.”

Hinting that Clinton could be shot

Things became personal and even more outrageous in August 2016, when Mr Trump made the lightly veiled suggestion that Mrs Clinton could be shot in order to protect the Second Amendment: the clause in the US Constitution that guarantees the right to bear arms.

He told a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina: “Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.”

Mrs Clinton’s running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, complained at the time: “Nobody who is seeking a leadership position, especially the presidency, the leadership of the country, should do anything to countenance violence, and that’s what he was saying.”

Senator Kaine called Mr Trump’s remark “a window into the soul of a person who is just temperamentally not suited to the task”.

Naming Obama, public enemy No.1

In that same month, Mr Trump accused then-President Obama of being the founder of ISIS. When conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked whether he meant that Mr Obama had created a vacuum that allowed the terrorist group to flourish, Mr Trump insisted his claim be taken literally.

“No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award.” He then added that Mrs Clinton also deserved MVP status among the death cult.

In July 2017, on the president’s personal Twitter account (33 million followers at the time), Mr Trump posted a video of a wrestling broadcast that had been edited to show Mr Trump beating and body-slamming a man with a CNN logo on his face.

By then, Mr Trump had bleated the term “fake news” for months as a means of deflecting scrutiny – and had declared war on CNN for its critical coverage. It was around then that Montana representative Greg Gianforte body-slammed a reporter who had asked a question about health care.

Mr Trump endorsed Mr Gianforte by saying: “Any guy who can do a body slam, he is my type!”

In June last year, a gunman murdered five people working at a Maryland newspaper. The man had a personal grudge with the paper but the killings brought to light concerns that Mr Trump’s war with journalists was proving dangerous.