Erin Burnett Outfront: Interview With Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) After Attack At His Office

Interview

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Right.

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The good news, Erin, is they've been released from the hospital, which means I hope that the worst that could happen from their injuries is not going to happen. So they, you know, are on the road to physical recovery. But now, the hard work begins, which is the recovery from the psychic wounds and the trauma that was inflicted yesterday. And I'm afraid that's going to be a long-term process.

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Right.

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I've always been fatalistic about threats to me and -- but I'm not fatalistic about threats to my staff or my family. And, you know, it's a sad commentary if we now have to accept as a price of public service threats to everybody associated with us. And I think it does underscore why we've got to tone down rhetoric, tone down images, and make sure that we never normalize violence in our domestic politics.

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Yes.

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I honestly believe that Donald Trump made violence part of his schtick. At rallies, you may recall, he actually talked about protesters and saying, you know, in my day, we'd take them out and beat them up, enabling violence and almost sanctioning it.

You know, he walked around at one point with a baseball bat, not an image of peace and tranquility and conciliation.

He, of course, incited the violence of January 6th, and some of his enablers here in Congress have called those insurrectionists who perpetrated enormous violence on police forces and would have done the same on members of Congress, patriots or just, you know, overexcited tourists.

When you say something like that, that's not true. And it is normalizing and enabling violence.

And for people living on the edge mentally, what they're hearing is a steady stream of violence is an acceptable route to express yourself or your anger. And I think, you know, we have to address that. That cannot be okay in a constitutional democracy like America.

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Glad to be with you, Erin.

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Thank you.

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