The future of the United States is "in grave danger" unless civil discourse can be restored, said Rep. Gary Palmer, one of the lawmakers who was at an Alexandria ballfield when gunshots rang out during a Republican baseball practice on Wednesday.
"The country is fraying at the edges," the Alabama Republican told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program on Thursday,
"We have got to pull the country back together. We have got to be able to re-establish a civil discourse."
Palmer said he was about 20 yards from the gunman when the shooting began.
"[Rep.] Trent Kelly from Mississippi was at third base," Palmer said. "When I heard the gunshot, I immediately knew what it was. I yelled at Trent it was a gunshot. He turned and said 'he has a gun.'"
The men headed for cover, said Palmer, and he said he heard "at least two more shots."
"I saw Steve go down," Palmer told the program. "I knew he was hit low. I didn't know where. I thought maybe in the leg. And then Steve dragged himself from the infield dirt into the outfield grass. When we got to cover, we were yelling at Steve to stay down and to stay still."
Palmer said he hopes the shooting marks a turning point, and that he did see some of that on Wednesday, when House members came together.
"I have got a number of Democratic friends who came over to see me," Palmer said. "I was very encouraged by that."
He said he does believe that there will be a push for unity from leaders on both sides of the aisle, but "we have got to see it, I think in the entire community of America. It's got to come from the media. It's got to come from the pundits who work social media, not just the rhetoric from the politicians. It's across the board."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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