WASHINGTON – Members of Congress share concerns about political violence after Saturday’s assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
But they are divided on what to do about it.
Saturday was an example of another attempted attack – an issue that has increased in recent years.
Many Democrats were concerned about political violence, but felt the issue went beyond the attempts on President Trump.
“First of all, it’s a problem we’re seeing all throughout our country, from poll workers, people who work local elections, to federal judges,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told Capital News Service on Tuesday. “The threats and acts of violence are increasing in our country. So there’s one thing everybody should realize: we will not cure this problem if we double down on partisan rhetoric.”
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Republicans criticized the hate that has boiled over into political violence and defended the president after another assassination attempt.
“Everybody’s got to address it their own way. Look, I don’t hate anybody. It’s very hard in this town, because this is a democratic town,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said to CNS. “I just constantly remind myself that this is America, and everybody has the right to his opinion, and you shouldn’t hate because of that.”
Kennedy criticized the motives of the California man charged as the suspected shooter.
“We have an overeducated, underemployed, self-righteous punk from California who thinks he’s smarter and more virtuous than everybody else. And that he has all the answers, and if you disagree with him, you should die,” Kennedy said.
“He’s clearly a high-IQ stupid person because he tried to run through the extraordinary security that we have,” Kennedy continued. “This meathead is very lucky he’s not swiss cheese.”
Kennedy said that he was not at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ dinner because he was watching the NBA playoffs. However, he was thankful that nobody got hurt and said the suspect “didn’t even break their champagne bottles.”
Republicans defended President Trump, supporting his claims that Saturday’s attempt emphasizes the need to resume construction on his new East Wing ballroom project.
Democrats dismissed that claim.
“The notion of, oh, this thing happened at the Hilton, so let’s just throw millions of dollars at a ballroom,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said to CNS. “Let’s get to the bottom of what happened.”
Others said that political violence is an issue based on the personalities within politics, overshadowing more pressing conflicts.
“We should focus on issues and not personalities,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said to CNS.
That was the sentiment that Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) seemed to agree with. He criticized other members of Congress from both sides of the aisle about how they’ve reacted to political violence.
“I think they should just knock it off,” Thompson said to CNS. “They ought to act like the professionals that we expect members of Congress to set an example for the American people.”