Rep. Swalwell says GOP seems 'more comfortable' with 'violence' than 'voting'

In the wake of the assault at the Pelosi residence, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., claimed Monday night that Republicans are "more comfortable with violence" than voting.

In an interview on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," Swalwell claimed the upcoming midterm election is about deciding: "Will we be a country that decides its future through violence, or will it be decided through voting?" 

Swalwell then suggested that "one side seems more comfortable with violence than they do with voting right now, and that’s on the line in eight days."

He prescribed, "The antidote to this is unity among Democrats and Republicans, to condemn violence every time it happens and also to condemn those who glorify the violence that is taking place."

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Hayes claimed the incident echoed "January 6" because the suspect had styled himself after the "American revolutionaries" who were "under British tyranny." 

Swalwell agreed and went on to suggest that the suspect’s social media is similar to that of prominent Republicans. "Speaking of that revolutionary talk, we heard that from Ted Cruz, we heard that from Marjorie Taylor Greene, leading up to January 6. Most Americans, if you go to their Facebook page, the got pictures of their family, their dogs, their favorite sports teams, maybe hunting with their kids," he noted. 

He continued, "This guy had conspiracy theories about January 6, Covid, and other nonsense that looks just like the Facebook pages of Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert. The problem is when they conduct themselves by espousing violent rhetoric, people like this guy take it as the gospel and they carry out the violence."

Swalwell has a controversial record on addressing violence himself, however. 

The California Democrat compared his Republican colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to the suspect of the Highland Park mass-shooting that left six people dead and dozens wounded, tweeting, "Let’s start drawing straight lines."

He also appeared to threaten gun-rights advocates, saying that they would not stand much of a chance if the American government used nuclear weapons against them. 

Swallwell tweeted, "And it would be a short war my friend. The government has nukes. Too many of them. But they’re legit. I’m sure if we talked we could find common ground to protect our families and communities."

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The very existence of left-wing violence, especially that which is organized by groups such as loosely organized Antifa cells, has been an issue that many left-wing figures have denied knowledge of, with then-candidate Joe Biden infamously claiming, "Antifa’s an idea, not an organization," at a 2020 presidential debate.

An October episode of The View featured Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., debating The View’s hosts on the existence of left-wing political violence. After Cruz called out the "Antifa riots" from 2020, host Whoopi Goldberg replied "I don't know what an ‘Antifa riot’ is."

Newsweek was roasted by Twitter users after it published a fact-check of the Texas Senator, claiming that "Antifa is not a formalized group or association" and "labeling the protests as ‘Antifa riots’ is misleading too as there is no organization or group known as such," despite the publication having reported on "Antifa chapters" in the past.

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Liberal figures like Swalwell don’t seem to have confused messaging when condemning Republicans, however.

"It’s very clear that Republicans have recognized that they can no longer win elections with votes, and so they’re leaning in hard to try to win elections with violence, and they are fomenting that violence right now," Swalwell said in an August interview.