ORLANDO, Fla. The (AP) Donald Trump says he can unify the country. Now, he gets a chance to prove it.
The Republican presidential front-runner canceled a Friday night rally in Chicago rather than enter a tense cauldron of animosity between his supporters and protesters — some of whom then proceeded to face off in several violent altercations as the political gathering veered dangerously close to a riot.
It was an ugly incident unlike anything seen in presidential politics in decades, adding a dark chapter to the already unconventional 2016 White House campaign. And it comes as Trump makes calls for unity a central part of his closing argument ahead of Tuesday's slate of primary elections in five delegate-rich states.
The Chicago chaos presents the biggest leadership test yet for the Republican outsider, the deeply divided Republican Party and an even more sharply splintered nation that he seeks to lead.
And while extraordinary by any standards, perhaps the biggest surprise was that it didn't happen sooner.
Since casting Mexicans immigrants as rapists and criminals in his June announcement speech, Trump has encouraged supporters to embrace anger tinged with xenophobia. In recent weeks, his rallies have featured several minor incidents of violence involving protesters, almost all of them minorities, with Trump repeatedly encouraging his supporters to fight back — and to do so with violence if necessary.
On Friday morning, Trump cheered a supporter who punched a black protester in the face earlier in the week. The aggressor was later charged with assault.
