Pelosi Blames Republicans for ‘Politics of Personal Destruction’ After Scalise Shooting

Pelosi Blames Republicans for ‘Politics of Personal Destruction’ After Scalise Shooting (The Washington Free Beacon)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) suggested during a press briefing on Thursday that the right is more to blame for politically motivated violence than the left.

Pelosi's comments came in the wake of Wednesday morning's shooting at a Republican congressional baseball team practice, which injured five people including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.). The shooter was a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) who volunteered for his presidential campaign.

Following the shooting, the New York Times published a controversial op-ed, which argued that American political discourse had coarsened to the point of leading to violence. The op-ed originally made an unsubstantiated claim that a graphic circulated by a political action committee associated with Sarah Palin helped cause the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.), before issuing a correction.