Wednesday morning's baseball field shooting in Alexandria, Va. won't likely be a pivot point in the nation's divisiveness, because the things that spurred gunman James T. Hodgkinson are still out in the nation's society, Rep. Ron DeSantis, who was one of the congressmen at the field, said Friday.
"This was a guy really consumed with rage, and a very hateful individual," the Florida Republican told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.
"The idea that somehow we're going to be able to control people like that, I think there is a lot of hatred out there, unfortunately."
With such people, DeSantis said, social media and other media can drive their motives, especially when it comes to how President Donald Trump is "always denigrated."
DeSantis said he hopes the tone of unity set during Thursday night's Republican-Democrat charity baseball game continues, and even though debates are tough, they should not be used to "assassinate somebody's character."
"One, because that's not the way you should do this stuff, and two, whatever debate we are having now, we may have a different debate six months from now," he explained. "Someone you are attacking, you may want to work with on some issue.
"Why would you want to burn bridges from a congressional perspective? Having healthy relationships I think benefits you and your ability to serve the district. It doesn't mean we have to agree on anything."
DeSantis said he's never operated by using personal attacks, but he'll continue to stand for conservative principles and limited government, as that's what he believes in.
"The Founding Fathers had very big, tough, robust debates," he said. "I think they respected each other and understood that they had different perspectives, and that wasn't a cause to kind of view someone as somehow not part of the American family."
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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