US President Donald Trump suggested the FBI should stop investigating an incident in which his supporters were seen surrounding a Joe Biden campaign bus in Texas.
The president’s tweet came hours after the FBI confirmed that it was “aware of the incident and investigating”.
In videos posted on Twitter, a group of cars and pickup trucks – many adorned with large Trump flags – can be seen riding alongside the Democratic campaign bus on Friday, and at times boxing it in, as it travelled from San Antonio to Austin.
On Sunday night, Mr Trump retweeted a screenshot of the FBI statement, adding: “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong.
“Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!”
An FBI spokesperson said the bureau had no comment about the president’s tweet.
Mr Trump’s tweet come as tensions remained high between the president and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and as Mr Trump has pressed the Justice Department and FBI to act against his rivals, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden himself.
The president has also told people around him that he is frustrated with Mr Wray over the FBI director’s public statements on issues like voting fraud, Russian election interference and antifa, and has discussed the possibility of removing Mr Wray if he wins re-election.
On Saturday, Mr Trump tweeted a video of his supporters following the Biden campaign bus, adding: “I LOVE TEXAS!”
The Texas Democratic Party chairperson did not directly address the incident but said people should “ignore the noise and go vote”.
“Voting is the only thing that matters right now,” Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement.
“We’ve never had anything like this. At least we’ve never had a president who thinks it’s a good thing,” Mr Biden said during a campaign event in the Philadelphia suburbs.
