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
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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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