US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke to reporters on her plane Sunday, and addressed the spate of violent incidents, with an explosion in Manhattan injuring 29, another explosion in New Jersey, and a stabbing attack in a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It is yet unclear if any of these attacks were terror-motivated.
"I've been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey and the attack in Minnesota. We need to support our first responders, and pray for the victims."
Clinton refrained from commenting about the potential background to the explosions. "Obviously, we need to wait until the end of the investigation. I'll have more to say about it when we actually know the facts."
Upon being asked to comment on her presidential campaign opponent Donald Trump's immediate reaction of calling the explosion "a bomb", Clinton responded diplomatically: "It's important to know the facts about any incident like this. It's important to wait for all the facts before coming to any conclusions, because we are just in the beginning of finding out what happened."
Conventional wisdom among pundits and commentators holds that any terrorist attacks, especially on US soil, favor Trump, who is viewed as being stronger on foreign policy and combatting terrorism. It must be reiterated, however, that there are thus far no indications as to terrorist motives behind the explosions, and the motives of the Minnesota stabber are also as yet unknown.