GOP rep shot by left-wing activist calls for civility
Steve Scalise, the Louisiana congressman critically wounded at a GOP baseball practice last year, is using his own painful attack to call for civility.
The Majority Whip spoke out as news broke of pipe bombs sent to top Democrats and CNN.
“These attempted attacks ... are acts of pure terror. Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else in our society,” the Republican rep said on Twitter yesterday.
He added, referencing his own difficult recovery: “I have experienced firsthand the effects of political violence, and am committed to using my voice to speak out against it wherever I can.”
Scalise, who is on the short list to be speaker if Republicans keep control of the House after the Nov. 6 midterms, was critically injured June 14, 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va.
Three others were also shot that morning by a leftwing activist, who died from his wounds later that day.
In flurry of tweets, Scalise said violence can’t be the “new normal” for those who disagree over politics.
“Those responsible for these evil acts of terror must be hunted down and brought to justice,” he said. “This is a dangerous path.”
Fellow Republican Ted Cruz, in a heated re-election fight in Texas against Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, also called out the violence.
“It’s a divided time. A polarized time,” he said on MSNBC. “But violence is never OK, and it doesn’t matter where on the political spectrum it comes from.”
Hillary Clinton, the target of one of the pipe bombs, praised the Secret Service — and also noted the redhot political climate.
“We are fine thanks to the men and women of the Secret Service ... Every day, we are grateful for their service and commitment. And obviously, never more than today,” she tweeted. “But it is a troubling time, isn’t it?"