Police intercept suspicious packages addressed to Robert De Niro and Joe Biden

Investigators on Thursday reported intercepting three more explosive packages, two sent to former Vice President Joe Biden and one to actor Robert De Niro, bringing the total to 10 as President Trump pivoted from issuing a plea for national unity to blaming the media for stoking anger in the nation.

The pipe bombs, which did not detonate, were similar to the crude devices sent to former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., former CIA director John Brennan, investor George Soros and Rep. Maxine Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat. All of the recipients, including Biden and De Niro, have been critics of Trump and have been assailed by him, including in his frequent political rallies.

Though Trump joked at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night that he had to behave, the latest news did not stop him from doubling down on blaming the media — as he did at the campaign event — for fomenting an atmosphere that would drive people to take such action against his most frequent political targets.

“A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” Trump said in a tweet Thursday morning. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”

Among the recipients of explosive packages early Wednesday was CNN, which Trump regularly lambastes; it received the mailing intended for Brennan though he is a commentator on contract to MSNBC, not CNN.

On Wednesday at the White House, Trump had read from a prepared statement and denounced the bombing attempts, promising a thorough investigation and calling for unity. That call that rang hollow to many given his constant attacks on Democrats and other critics, including Clinton and Waters. Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, issued a statement Wednesday that “the President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

By the evening, as Trump spoke to supporters inside a small airplane hangar in Mosinee, Wis., he mixed condemnation of the threats with a blast putting the onus on the media to provide less critical coverage of his presidency.

“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative — and oftentimes, false — attacks and stories,” said Trump, prompting the usual chants of “CNN sucks!” from supporters.

The president also exhorted those in the political arena to “stop treating their opponents as morally defective.” He continues at rallies to call his 2016 rival “Crooked Hillary” and routinely encourages calls of “Lock her up,” while attacking Waters, an outspoken African American lawmaker, as a “low-IQ individual.”

He made a point of avoiding those standard attacks in Wisconsin, telling the crowd that he was “trying to be nice.”

“Do you see how nice I’m behaving tonight? Have you ever seen this?” he said.

According to the Associated Press, the package addressed to Biden was intercepted at a Delaware mail facility. The package to De Niro was reported to law enforcement early Thursday morning by security personnel in the Manhattan building where his entertainment company, TriBeCa Productions, is located.

UPDATES:

7:50 a.m.: This article was updated to reflect FBI confirmation of two packages sent to Biden.

7:05 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting.

5:40 a.m.: This article was updated with information about a suspicious package addressed to Joe Biden, additional details about the packages and comments tweeted by President Trump.

4:50 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details and background.

This article was originally published at 4:25 a.m.