In an interview Sunday with CNN’s Dana Bash, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) denounced the violent assault on Paul Pelosi, the husband of Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as “disgusting” and “horrible” — however he refused to sentence the conspiracy theories about U.S. elections which can be alleged to have incited the assailant.
Bash reminded Scott that the intruder bludgeoned Paul Pelosi with a hammer in his San Francisco house as a result of he “embraced conspiracy theories concerning the 2020 election.” She prefaced her query — “ought to Republicans do extra to reject” these theories — with a current clip of President Joe Biden.
“It’s one factor to sentence the violence, however you possibly can’t condemn the violence except you condemn these individuals who proceed to argue the election was not actual, that it’s being stolen, that every one the malarkey that’s being put on the market to undermine democracy,” Biden advised reporters Saturday.
Scott agreed that “we have now to sentence the violence” however rapidly pivoted to induce his fellow officers and constituents that “we have now to do every thing we are able to…to verify folks really feel snug about these elections,” alluding to the Nov. 8 midterms.
“We’ve obtained to do every thing we are able to to get folks snug that this election in 9 days goes to be free and truthful, that individuals’s votes are all going to be counted pretty, that they’re not going to be diluted,” Scott advised Bash. “I’ve tried to… get folks to verify we’re prepared.”
Bash reminded Scott that almost all of his Republican colleagues, together with those that had been within the Donald Trump White Home, agreed the 2020 presidential election was truthful. She mentioned this apparently hasn’t stopped inspiring people, equivalent to assault suspect David DePape, whose social media accounts had been rife with right-wing conspiracy theories, and she or he requested Scott if curbing this insidious rhetoric was necessary to the senator.
“I believe what’s necessary is everyone do every thing we are able to to make these elections truthful,” Scott responded. “We’ve obtained Hillary Clinton saying the 2024 election is going to be stolen, we’ve obtained Stacey Abrams saying she didn’t lose, so my job is [to] do every thing I can to get folks to really feel snug these elections are truthful.”
DePape, 42, is accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, 82, in his house early Friday, beating him with a hammer and inflicting a cranium fracture and different critical accidents. He demanded to know the place his spouse was and tried to tie Pelosi up till she returned, however he was arrested after Paul Pelosi surreptitiously referred to as 911 and police arrived amid the assault. Nancy Pelosi was out of city, accompanied by her safety element.
Scott mentioned his “coronary heart goes out to Paul Pelosi” and that violent extremism “has to cease,” however he refused to contemplate that his personal get together’s rhetoric influences folks like DePape, who appeared to share QAnon memes on-line about COVID-19 vaccines and the 2020 presidential election being stolen.
As a substitute, Scott urged viewers to stay vigilant, a directive that might additionally buoy their paranoia.
“I’m telling folks get out to vote, go be a ballot watcher, and when we have now the chance, let’s make our election legal guidelines safer,” Scott advised Bash. “Let’s just be sure you have voter ID, you don’t have poll harvesting, you’ve got monitored poll bins. That makes folks really feel extra snug that the elections are going to be truthful.”
Watch the total interview on CNN.
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