President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address quickly hit a patriotic high note on Tuesday as he honored a Republican congressman who survived last year’s baseball-field shooting and has resumed his work in Congress.
Trump called Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise ‘one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House – a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later.’
After a raucous round of applause, the president quipped: ‘I think they like you, Steve!’
Trump praised the U.S. Capitol Police, the Alexandria, Virginia Police, ‘and the doctors, nurses and paramedics who saved his life and the lives of many others.’
President Donald Trump praise Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, on Tuesday during his State of the Union, leading to a rare moment of bipartisan applause
Scalise was shot in the hip and nearly died when a gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Northern Virginia last June
The president used the moment – one of few that drew universal howls of enthusiasm and brought both Republicans and Democrats to their feet – to call for more of the uncommon unity that Congress showed after a gunman opened fire last June during a lawmakers’ baseball practice.
‘In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people,’ Trump said. ‘But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy.’
‘Tonight I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people – this is really the key – these are the people we were elected to serve.’
TV cameras in the House chamber showed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi scowling.
Trump delivered his first State of the Union address on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol. telling Republicans and Democrats to set aside their differences the way they did in support of Scalise
the congressman was rushed to the hospital in June 2017, the worst-hurt of shooter James Hodgkinson’s victims
Scalise let out a whoop of joy as Trump singled him out for praise on Tuesday night
Scalise underwent his latest post-wounding surgery three weeks ago.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise says he will undergo surgery Wednesday as part of his recovery from last June’s shooting at a baseball practice.
Scalise was struck by a bullet in the hip, shattering bone and damaging internal organs. He often uses forearm crutches when he walks.
He was playing second base at the time.
Scalise was rushed to the hospital and required 20 units of blood – about twice the amount typically in the human body – as doctors desperately tried to stop him from bleeding to death.
Several surgeries and months of rehabilitation later, he made a spirited return to Congress in September and addressed a House of Representatives united in relief.
After Trump called on lawmakers to set aside their differences and focus on ‘the people we were elected to serve,’ TV cameras caught Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi scowling in the audience
James Hodgkinson, 66, shot Scalise and others at the baseball field after railing against Republicans on social media – once writing: ‘It’s time to destroy Trump & Co.’
James Hodgkinson, the 66-year-old Illinois man who shot him, railed for months on social media against Republicans – once writing: ‘It’s time to destroy Trump & Co.’
During his recovery, Scalise has said that being shot has only strengthened his belief in the Second Amendment and his opposition to gun control.
The congressman said in October that neither his shooting, which nearly killed him, nor the horrific October 1 massacre in Las Vegas which killed over 50 people and wounded hundreds more, swayed his pro-gun views.
‘I think it’s fortified it,’ the House Majority whip told Fox News.
Scalise said any attempts at gun control would not have prevented what took place in Las Vegas.
‘Well, first of all, look at some of those bills,’ he said.
Scalise often uses forearm crutches when he walks (as seen above in October following his return to Congress)
‘Those bills wouldn’t have done anything to stop this. I mean the gunmen actually cleared background checks.
‘So to promote some kind of gun control, I think, is the wrong way to approach this.
‘And frankly, what I experienced was when there was a shooter, we had – luckily, we had Capitol Police with their own guns.
‘Every single day in America, regular citizens that just have a passionate belief in the Second Amendment, that have their own guns, use guns every single day to protect themselves against criminals.’