Trump nominees hit by ‘un-American threats’

The incoming US president’s team has been targeted by “swatting” and bomb threat calls

A number of candidates for top posts in Donald Trump’s administration have been targeted with bomb threats and ‘swatting’ calls, according to the presidential transition team.

Trump won the November 5 election and is scheduled to be sworn in as the 47th US president on January 20 next year. He has already announced dozens of names of future officials, some of whom need to be approved by the Senate first.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them,” transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted.”

The attacks ranged from calling in bomb threats to “swatting,” the practice of making a false report to police about a violent crime in progress that requires an intervention by a heavily armed special unit. Several “swatting” calls in the US have led to fatal consequences.

Leavitt did not name the people who were impacted by the spree. She has been nominated to be the White House press secretary in the next administration.

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“With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,” she said.

Trump barely escaped death earlier this year at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. The Republican presidential candidate had turned to look at a migration chart just as the would-be assassin fired the first of eight shots. One audience member was killed and two more were seriously wounded, while Trump survived with a minor ear injury.

As security hustled him off the stage, Trump put up a fist and told the crowd to “fight, fight, fight.” The US Secret Service director later resigned over her agents’ failure.

The Butler shooter was killed by a counter-sniper and the FBI has not offered any information about his motives or possible accomplices since. Another would-be assassin was arrested in September, after he was spotted waiting in ambush at a Trump golf course in Florida. He turned out to be a pro-Ukrainian activist, whose trial is still pending.

Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden and the Democrats for inciting violence.