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Stephanopoulos pointed to a warning to law enforcement this week in which federal authorities flagged incendiary messages sent Wednesday by a racially motivated group that \"incited followers to engage in violence ... by shooting in a crowd.\"

\"You said you haven't heard about any other incitement from the right, but the DHS warning that went out this week noted specifically that the white supremacist extremist telegram channel was inciting the violence as well,\" Stephanopoulos said. \"They're saying it is both sides that are inciting violence from the outside.\"

\"PHOTO:
Alex Brandon/AP
PHOTO: White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listen as President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 29, 2020, in Washington.
>

Still, O'Brien insisted the images of destruction, violence and vandalism that played out live on television over the weekend were the fault of left-wing extremists.

\"I think the actual perpetrators of the violence, the ones that are on the street that are burning down minority-owned businesses and restaurants who have already suffered through this terrible COVID situation and are at risk of losing their business and now they're seeing them burn to the ground, those are antifa radical militants,\" O'Brien responded.

\"Look, I condemn all extremists on the right or on the left, but the ones who are out on the streets throwing the Molotov cocktails and attacking our police -- who are acting, you know, for the most part with restraint and heroically -- you know, that has to stop,\" he continued.

Stephanopoulos also asked O'Brien about the role the president's rhetoric is playing in stoking unrest across the country, including an inflammatory tweet Friday morning stating, \"when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Twitter flagged the message with an unprecedented advisory stating that it \"violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence.\"

\"Does the president -- should he be taking responsibility for those tweets, as well?\" asked Stephanopoulos.

\"The reason he uses Twitter is to get directly to the American people -- I think what he said about those tweets is that he wants to deescalate violence and doesn't want people looting,\" O'Brien said, after earlier noting that he was with Trump when the president first viewed the video of Floyd's death and that Trump immediately tweeted a demand for an investigation.

Stephanopoulos later probed O'Brien about the evidence that \"foreign adversaries\" are attempting to exploit the unrest, referring to a tweet by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Saturday in which he said he was \"seeing VERY heavy social media activity on #protests & counter reactions from social media accounts linked to at least 3 foreign adversaries.\"

Tonight seeing VERY heavy social media activity on #protests & counter reactions from social media accounts linked to at least 3 foreign adversaries.

They didn't create these divisions. But they are actively stoking & promoting violence & confrontation from multiple angles.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 31, 2020

\"Sen. Rubio is spot on. And I've seen a number of tweets from the Chinese today that are taking some sort of pleasure and solace in what they're seeing here,\" O'Brien said.

He also delivered a message about the difference between the U.S. and its adversaries.

\"I want to tell our foreign adversaries, whether it's a Zimbabwe or a China, that the difference between us and you is that that officer who killed George Floyd, he'll be investigated, he'll be prosecuted and he'll receive a fair trial,\" O'Brien said.

\"There's a difference between us and you, and when this happens, we'll get to the bottom of it. We'll clean it up. It's not going to be covered up.\"

Robert O'Brien says there's a \"big difference\" between U.S. and \"foreign adversaries\" because the officer who killed George Floyd \"will be prosecuted and will get a fair trial,\" and protesters \"are not going to be thrown in jail for peaceful protesting.\" https://t.co/sVerbxGgdM pic.twitter.com/rRH7r0R0TN

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 31, 2020

When asked whether the officers who witnessed Floyd's arrest and failed to act should also be prosecuted, O'Brien called it \"an absolute outrage.\"

\"I can't imagine that they won't be charged. I don't want to pre-judge anything, but what we saw was horrific, and to have stood by and allowed that to happen is, you know, shows a lack of humanity.\"

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