Amid pipe bomb news cycle, Trump ups poll rhetoric by reviving old attacks

As he left Washington for his latest campaign rally here, President Trump made it clear that he was no longer going to sit through another news cycle without President Trump at the centre

For two days, the president toyed with a bipartisan message and watched as the news cycle focused not on him, and not on the midterm elections, but on at least 14 explosive devices delivered to prominent Democratic figures.

By Friday, he had had enough.

As he left Washington for his latest campaign rally here, President Trump made it clear that he was no longer going to sit through another news cycle without President Trump at the center.

“The Republicans had tremendous momentum, and then, of course, this happened, where all that you people talked about was that,” Mr. Trump said to reporters about the bomb scares. “But now we have to start the momentum again.”

His supporters in North Carolina appeared to agree. When Mr. Trump took the stage at the Bojangles’ Coliseum, hours after Cesar Sayoc Jr., a Florida man with a lengthy criminal record, was arrested in connection to sending the devices, chants of “Build the wall” and “CNN sucks” had already rung out repeatedly.

“The suspect has been captured — great job — and is now in federal custody,” Mr. Trump said. “These terrorist actions must be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.”

The president, who made a show on Wednesday of being “nice” as bomb scares were affecting several of his political enemies, resurrected some of his favorite political insults two days later. Taunts including “Crooked Hillary” and “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer” were brought out once again in a pull-out-all-the-stops partisan effort 11 days before the midterms.

While Mr. Trump did spend a few minutes railing against the Democrats and their immigration policies — “A vote for Democrats is a vote for open borders,” he once again falsely claimed — he reserved special ire for the news media.

Touching on a “broader conversation about the tone and civility” of political discourse, the president said that “everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction.”

He added, “The media has a major role to play whether they want to or not.”

He did not address the political leanings of Mr. Sayoc, 56, who was active in several pro-Trump Facebook groups and had attended at least one Trump rally, waving a “CNN Sucks” sign and wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Mr. Sayoc’s van was covered in pro-Trump stickers. He turned up in Washington, again with the red hat, for Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.

But on Friday, Republicans, from Mr. Trump on down, made it clear that Mr. Sayoc was not one of them. In fact, the president said that the coverage of Mr. Sayoc’s political leanings was a result of the news media trying to pin the attempted bombings on his politics.

“We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,” Mr. Trump said. “The media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.”

Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, also took the stage and thanked Mr. Trump for capturing “that animal who sent bombs,” referring to Mr. Sayoc, adding, “There’s no place for that in the United States.”

The attack on the news media was the culmination of a long, active day for Mr. Trump. At 3:14 a.m., a post appeared on his Twitter account criticizing CNN for unfavorable coverage, with Mr. Trump writing that “when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!’”

As they have for months, CNN journalists at the rally on Friday night worked alongside hired security guards. The network’s New York City office received an explosive device on Wednesday in a package addressed to John O. Brennan, a critic of Mr. Trump who served as President Barack Obama’s C.I.A. director.

Most of the people and organizations on the receiving end of the packages have been targeted by Mr. Trump at his rallies. Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton, who ran against Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential race, were among the prominent figures who received explosive devices. Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California and a frequent rally punching bag, also received one.

Mr. Trump brought up Ms. Waters briefly on Friday, but then stopped, saying he wanted to “be nice.”

Pollsters have said that the risks that Mr. Trump is taking by alienating more moderate voters could be mitigated by using essentially unlimited airtime to hit at enemies and tout his accomplishments.

Indeed, the president is preparing to throw his political might into an 11-day sprint to the midterms. He is planning at least 10 rallies in eight battleground states, including Florida, Montana, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to a senior White House official not authorized to talk about the planning process. Mr. Trump will also visit Illinois for a rally on Saturday.

“They don’t change anyone’s choice,” Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, said in an interview, “but I do think they encourage participation. And in an off-year election, turnout is everything.”