The shootings at an Alexandria baseball field where GOP congressmen were practicing for a charity game quieted some of the political rhetoric, but there is still plenty of "hateful" talk that continues to go on, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday.
"Look at Twitter," Conway told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program. "If I were shot and killed tomorrow, half of Twitter would explode in applause and excitement. This is the world we live in right now. It's terrible."
It is one thing for people to disagree on taxes, healthcare repeal or national security plans, but "you can't attack people personally in a way and think that tragedies like this won't happen," said Conway.
On Wednesday, the shooter, James T. Hodgkinson, was killed after opening fire at the baseball field, injuring members of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise's detail and Scalise himself, leaving the Louisiana congressman hospitalized in critical condition.
After the incident, Hodgkinson's social media postings revealed he was a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and angered by President Donald Trump and Republicans.
Conway said there was a feeling "of unity and healing" at the charity game Thursday night, but even while the "hateful rhetoric" slowed on Wednesday, people were reverting to their behavior by Thursday.
She wants people to think more closely about what they are saying.
"This man, this shooter the other day, didn't hate baseball," she said. "He hated Republicans, and his social media feed was a complete anti-Trump, anti-Republican screed. For those in the media upset by the president's social media postings, why isn't everybody looking inside a little bit at what they're posting and what they're saying?"
There have been further threats against Republican lawmakers, said Conway, and that's concerning.
"We don't want to live in a police state because we can't get control of people's rhetoric," said Conway. "But this is a call for leaders to do more and to speak directly to those."
The shooting, she continued, "is the natural by-product you have after images of the president being shot in rapper's video, or being assassinated in a production there in New York City, or a picture of a severed head. All of that is a toxicity. There is no one to blame but the shooter here, but the calls for tamping down, there should also be some introspection there."
Conway also talked about Trump's visit in Miami on Friday, where he will outline plans to tighten Obama administration rules that allowed Cuba's military security entities to benefit from U.S. funds.
"What happened really benefited the Cuban regime, but did not benefit the Cuban people," Conway said. "The president is doing exciting things for the Cuban people.
Trump will lay out his new policy on Cuba during a speech in Miami on Friday.
His plans call for tightening rules on Americans traveling to Cuba and to significantly restrict U.S. companies from doing business with Cuban enterprises that are controlled by its military.
The action will roll back parts of Obama's moves to reopen the island, with Trump to back up his campaign promises for a tougher stance on Cuba.
Trump's call is for a Cuban government that allows "basic requirements for a free and fair society that treats its people well and gives them basic freedoms and human rights," said Conway, while "welcoming them to the table to get a better deal."
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.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.