NEW YORK (AA) – The White House on Monday strongly condemned an act of vandalism on a Republican Party local office in the state of North California.
“There is no justification for the use of violence to advance a political agenda," spokesman Josh Earnest said.
“As vigorous as the differences that have been on display in the context of this presidential campaign, the significance of those differences can never be used to justify violence,” he added.
An unidentified individual on Sunday threw a bottle of inflammable liquid through a window of the Orange County office of the Republican Party, Hillsborough police said. There were no injuries, while there was no immediate damage assessment.
Perpetrators also spray-painted a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else” on a building next to the party’s branch.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton denounced the attack Sunday evening as "horrific and unacceptable", saying on Twitter that she was "very grateful that everyone is safe".
Her Republican rival, Donald Trump, chimed in an hour later, blaming "animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina" for the attack, which was carried out "because we are winning".
The difference between the candidates is a single point among likely voters in favor of Clinton in the battleground state, according to a CNN/ORC poll on Monday.
The polls were taken on Oct. 10-15, days after a flurry of media reports of Trump making lewd comments about women, as well as witness accounts accusing the candidate of sexual assault.