Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he told Republican front-runner Donald Trump to condemn all violence at his rallies — no matter who starts it.
"It might be a good idea to condemn it," McConnell told reporters,
according to Politico. He and Trump had a "good conversation."
Trump called McConnell for the conversation, a spokesman for the Kentucky senator told Newsmax.
"I thought one of the things you guys had learned is that I'm pretty good at not answering questions I don't want to answer," he told reporters,
The Hill reports.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday that he was concerned about the growing unrest at Trump's rallies. He talked with the New York developer earlier this month.
The criticism from GOP leaders comes after a white Trump backer hit an African-American man at a rally in North Carolina last week and after the businessman canceled a speech in Chicago on Friday after clashes between protesters and supporters.
McConnell also criticized Trump earlier this month after he would not immediately disavow the KKK and its former leader, David Duke.
"Let me make it perfectly clear, Senate Republicans condemn David Duke [and] the KKK," McConnell said. "That is not the view of Republicans that have been elected to the United States Senate.
"I condemn his comments in the most forceful way," he said.