Steve Scalise Abruptly Ends Twitter Debate With AOC After Her Supporters Attack About Former Shooting

There have been a few times I’ve shut down absolutely gross comments that wish harm upon political opponents.

I will NOT stand for it. I don’t care HOW much you hate a political opponent. As long as you wish or call for their death, you’re just as bad as they are. I want absolutely nothing to do with that kind of behavior, and will always be the first to condemn it when I see it.

We are AMERICA. Not some undeveloped third-world country. We’re supposed to be above this. There is NO PLACE for freaking DEATH THREATS in political discourse.

Unfortunately, more and more we’ve seen our society descend into this. It’s sick.

According to Fox News:

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., abruptly halted a Twitter debate with newcomer Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York early Sunday after at least three commenters made references to the June 2017 shooting in which Scalise and three other people were shot by a left-wing activist.

“snipe his a–,” one Twitter user wrote, in support of Ocasio-Cortez. (The user later denied that the post was a call for political violence, writing, “not seeing any violence there sorry” and telling Fox News it referred only to a verbal “sniping.”)

“she’s got better aim than James Hodgkinson, that’s for sure,” another wrote, comparing Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter responses to the marksmanship of the suspect in the Virginia shooting, a Bernie Sanders supporter who later died in a shootout with police.

“Kick his cane,” a third wrote.

See why I call comments like these out as I see them? I REFUSE to be a part of this. It’s grotesque. BE BETTER THAN THIS.

Prior to the comments, Scalise and Ocasio-Cortez had been debating the Democrat’s proposal for enacting a tax rate of up to 70 percent on income. Scalise had called for letting Americans “keep more of their own hard-earned money.”

He claimed that Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez instead wanted to tax Americans’ income at higher rates in order to “give it to leftist fantasy programs.”

But after the Twitter followers’ comments appeared, Scalise opted to end the online discussion.

Hi @AOC. Happy to continue this debate on the Floor of the People’s House, but it’s clearly not productive to engage here with some of your radical followers. #StayClassy pic.twitter.com/lZCO3oiLUZ

— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 6, 2019

Scalise’s tweet appeared about 1 a.m. ET Sunday, or about two hours after Ocasio-Cortez’s late Saturday tweet, in which the newly sworn-in congresswoman claimed that Scalise didn’t understand “how marginal tax rates work.”

“Oh that’s right, almost forgot,” the Democratic socialist wrote. “GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves multi-million bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they’re ripping off for profit.”

You’re the GOP Minority Whip. How do you not know how marginal tax rates work?

Oh that’s right, almost forgot: GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves in multi-million💰bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they’re ripping off for profit. https://t.co/R1YIng2Ok1

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 6, 2019

If Ocasio-Cortez had seen Scalise’s 1 a.m. tweet, she offered no immediate response early Sunday.

Shame on her. CALL THEM OUT, Alexandria. EVERYONE SHOULD BE CALLING CRAP LIKE THIS OUT. Even if it’s coming from your “own” side.