Rep. Steve Scalise, who was almost killed in 2017 when a crazed left-wing activist opened fire on a practice for the annual Congressional baseball game, served up this must-read thread this morning on why “Republicans and Democrats alike must have the moral clarity to call out violent rhetoric whenever it’s spoken, not just when it’s politically convenient”:
THREAD:
This is the second time in three years I have seen political violence firsthand. Republicans and Democrats alike must have the moral clarity to call out violent rhetoric whenever it's spoken, not just when it’s politically convenient. https://t.co/uG9nJO0gob
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
He did not mince words and called what happened at the Capitol “domestic terrorism”:
I am still outraged by the domestic terrorism we saw at the Capitol last week, and I condemned it immediately.
Many Democrats who were rightfully quick to condemn last week’s events were noticeably silent over the summer as Americans watched cities go up in flames.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
And he called for an end to “selectively condemning” violence:
Elected officials and the media have a responsibility to condemn political violence and violent rhetoric across the board.
Selectively condemning it sends a message that cruelty and destruction in the name of political agendas will be celebrated. We must end this dangerous idea.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
“Both the politically-motivated gunman who shot me on a baseball field and the anarchists who rioted at the Capitol were radicalized by extreme rhetoric” and “It would be naive to think that either of these actions occurred in a vacuum”:
Both the politically-motivated gunman who shot me on a baseball field and the anarchists who rioted at the Capitol were radicalized by extreme rhetoric.
It would be naive to think that either of these actions occurred in a vacuum.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
But he also made it clear that he doesn’t equate what happened at the Capitol to the “millions of Americans who voted for President Trump or the Republican Party”:
I reject the notion that Wednesday’s attack was justifiable or that antifa led the mob into the Capitol.
I also reject the notion that the mob’s actions represent the motivations of the millions of Americans who voted for President Trump or the Republican Party.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
And finally, he called for Republicans and Democrats to come together and “resist the urge to throw fuel on the fire”:
America settles its differences through debate and democracy, not mob rule and violence.
Republicans and Democrats must come together and resist the urge to throw fuel on the fire.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 13, 2021
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