Obama urges candidates to reject 'insults and schoolyard taunts'

US President Barack Obama has warned presidential candidates to avoid fueling tensions through “insults and incendiary language,” a day after violence erupted in the rally of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

"What the folks who are running for office should be focused on is how we can make it even better -- not insults and schoolyard taunts and manufacturing facts, not divisiveness along the lines of race and faith, certainly not violence against other Americans," Obama said on Saturday.

Trump had to cancel a Chicago rally at the last minute on Friday, when mass protests turned into clashes between demonstrators and his supporters.

Clashes erupted when Trump’s campaign managers asked thousands of his supporters at the University of Illinois to leave the arena due to security concerns.

The angry rally-goers gathered inside and outside the arena and then confronted several hundred anti-Trump protesters, blaming them for the cancellation. Five people were arrested and two police officers were injured in the scuffle.

Trump defended his supporters, encouraging them to attack protesters if they provoke violence. Protesters have been beaten, shoved, kicked and verbally abused during many of Trump's events.

Both Republican and Democratic candidates say Trump is responsible for creating the charged environment in the rally.

His Republican fellow said the businessman has set the tone for clashes at his rallies.

“You have a candidate in Donald Trump who clearly has used language that appeals to anger, and in some instances has actually said to the crowd, ‘Let’s beat this person up or let’s do this or let’s do that,'” Rubio said on Friday.

“There’s only one presidential candidate who has violence at their events,” Rubio said.

Ohio Governor John Kasich said at a press conference that Trump “created a toxic environment.”

Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders also condemned the violence at Trump’s rally.

Clinton said, “The divisive rhetoric we are seeing should be of grave concern to us all.”  

Sanders also spoke out against hate on Friday, saying, “What this campaign is about is bringing our people together, not letting Donald Trump or anybody else divide us up.”

Trump, who has never held elected office, is leading the race despite the fact that his campaign has been marked by controversial statements, including with disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants and Muslims.

He created a furor in the US and around the world by proposing a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the United States, following a mass shooting in California.

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