Trump says people protesting in Washington during RNC final night were ‘thugs’

US President Donald Trump on Friday branded as “thugs” people who protested in Washington on Thursday night as he gave his presidential nomination acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention from the White House.

Addressing supporters in New Hampshire, Trump said people attending his speech at the White House “walked out to a bunch of thugs ... That wasn’t friendly protesters. They were thugs.”

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Trump’s comments come after Republican Senator Rand Paul on Friday called on the FBI to investigate a crowd of protesters that swarmed him as he departed the White House after listening to the US President accept his party’s nomination for re-election.

Convention attendees could hear hundreds of anti-Trump protesters gathered just beyond the White House gates shouting and blowing horns as Trump spoke. As some attendees left, they were confronted by masked demonstrators, social media postings show.

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