Rep. Tom Emmer calls out media hypocrisy on political violence
Rep. Tom Emmer had a fierce debate with CBS News host Margaret Brennan on a Sunday episode of Face the Nation.
In the wake of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband being assaulted in their home, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., called out the hypocrisy of a CBS News host trying to blame Republican rhetoric for encouraging violence.
Emmer appeared on Sunday's episode of "Face the Nation" with host Margaret Brennan when the connection between Republican words and the violence against Paul Pelosi was drawn.
"I want to ask you about this when it comes to political violence," Brennan began. "On your Twitter feed you posted this video we’re going to show just a few days ago where you’re firing a gun and it says, ‘Enjoyed exercising my Second Amendment rights, #firepelosi.’ Why is there a gun in a political ad at all?" She later followed up by asking, "Wouldn’t a pink slip be more fitting if it’s about firing her?"
Emmer turned the tables on the CBS host by asking why media figures don’t seem to try to blame Democrats' rhetoric for far-left violence.
Rep. Tom Emmer had a fierce debate with CBS host Margaret Brennan
The Republican congressman responded by noting, "It’s interesting we’re talking about this, this morning," but recalled how when "a Bernie Sanders supporter shot [House Republican Whip] Steve Scalise, I never heard you or anyone else in the media trying to blame Democrats for what happened."
He was referring to the 2017 mass shooting when a far-left former Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer named James T. Hodgkinson fired upon on a group of Republican lawmakers as they practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Scalise, the only congressman among the 6 people shot, was critically injured.
While Brennan claimed her network had done "extensive coverage of what happened to Steve Scalise," Emmer claimed they did not react to it with the same political angle they have been using for rhetoric critical of Nancy Pelosi.
"I never saw anyone after Steve Scalise was shot by a Bernie Sanders supporter trying to equate Democratic rhetoric with those actions," he said.
The host interjected, "I’m talking about right now, just what’s happening now."
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise leaves the House chamber in the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017. To hugs and a roaring bipartisan standing ovation, Scalise returned to the House, more than three months after a baseball practice shooting left him fighting for his life.( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Later she appeared to condemn Republicans for criticizing politicians rather than focusing on specific issues.
"Looking at your candidates, Republican candidates have spent more than $116 million on ads that mention speaker Pelosi by name in this cycle. If this is about the issues, why don’t you make it about the issues? Why not depersonalize it?" Brennan asked.
Emmer defended Republican rhetoric as being focused on a series of critical issues.
"It is absolutely about the issues. It’s about the fact that we have double-digit inflation exploding cost of living. We’ve got a crime wave across this country," he said.
He then suggested that it is instead Democrats and their allies who would rather shift the focus away from the actual political issues at hand.
"I’m sure people would like to talk about anything but what the Democrats have done to this country, which quite frankly is exploding cost of living, a crime wave in our major cities, which is a result of this defund the police nonsense and cashless bail," he said.
An AutoZone store burns as protesters gather outside of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis Thursday, May 28, 2020. (Mark Vancleave/Star Tribune via AP)
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He followed up by addressing the chaos in specific American cities.
"You look at New York City where you put someone in jail at 9 p.m. for assaulting someone on the street and they’re back out on the street at 9 a.m. committing crimes again," he said. "You look at my state of Minnesota, Minneapolis - it’s had 6,000 assaults since the beginning of the year, Margaret. Those are the issues that are top of mind for every voter in this country. That’s why they’re going to show up on November 8 and that’s why Republicans are going to win in the midterms."
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