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On June 14, 2017, a left-wing extremist opened fire on Republican lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, critically wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and several others in an assassination attempt that could have been a massacre without the quick action of Capitol police. That attack was not a random act of violence but a political act aimed squarely at elected conservatives, a fact that still matters when we evaluate who in our politics is normalizing violent rhetoric.
Scalise survived horrific injuries after surgeons worked to save his life, and his recovery became a symbol of resilience against political violence; he has repeatedly warned Americans about the real-world consequences when political fury turns into murderous action. His testimony about that day is not abstract — he lived it, and he knows how a single deranged attacker can nearly end multiple lives and a body politic’s sense of safety.
So it matters enormously that texts recently revealed from Virginia Democrat Jay Jones show fantasies about giving political opponents “two bullets,” celebrating the idea of harm to opponents and even expressing wishes that a lawmaker’s children suffer. These are not offhand insults; they are naked, violent imaginings from a man now seeking the office of attorney general, the top law-enforcement official in the Commonwealth.
In an exclusive interview, Scalise — who knows what happens when left-wing rage metastasizes into action — called out Jones’ messages and asked why any responsible leader would tolerate such behavior from a candidate for chief law enforcement officer. His reaction underscores the dangerous disconnect between rhetoric and accountability: when violent words are excused for political convenience, they lower the threshold for real violence.
Yet the predictable party defense has arrived, with many Democrats and their media allies bending over backward to minimize or rationalize Jones’ texts rather than demand that he step down or at least explain himself fully. This is the moral failure conservatives have been warning about for years — when you excuse bloodlust in your ranks because it helps win power, you trade the rule of law for short-term advantage.
America needs leaders who condemn political violence unequivocally and who will not normalize threats against opponents, their families, or the institutions we all rely on. If the left wants to insist it is the party of civility and justice, it should start by applying those standards to its own candidates rather than defending them for partisan gain.
We should all be grateful Scalise lived to tell his story, but gratitude is not enough; his survival is a warning. A society that shrugs at murder fantasies risks producing murderers, and any political movement that elevates or excuses those fantasies must be met with resistance from every corner that still believes in decency and the peaceful transfer of power.
