Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., urged Democrats Wednesday to be mindful of what they say on the campaign trail given the danger some people may take their political rhetoric literally.
Paul was asked to comment on growing concerns that civility was disappearing from politics after former Attorney General Eric Holder told attendees at an event in Georgia to “kick” Republicans “when they go low.” The line was met with a mix of laughter and applause. Holder clarified he meant the phrase metaphorically.
“I think it’s the same sort of thing, as you know, when Cory Booker says, ‘Get up in their face,'” Paul said Wednesday during an interview with Fox News, referring to his Democratic colleague from New Jersey, Sen. Cory Booker. “I don’t think either one of them literally want to incite violence, but they have to realize that when they tell people to get up in your face, that there are some crazy, unstable people out there.”
[Related: Hillary Clinton cheers the end of civility]
Paul then recalled how in 2017 a gunman targeted the GOP congressional baseball team as they practiced.
“When they finally were able to kill him, in his pocket was a list of five or six conservative Republicans that he came there intending to kill,” Paul said. “Instead of saying get up in their face, we should say let’s have constructive dialogue, let’s forcefully present our position in a verbal way, in an intellectual way.”
Paul’s wife Kelley last week described in an open letter how she now slept with a loaded gun by her bed following threats made against her and the senator’s family. In particular, she singled out Booker for imploring activists in July to “get up in the face of some congresspeople” at the 2018 National Conference on Ending Homelessness and Capitol Hill Day.
Jeff Giertz, Booker’s communications director, said after the letter was published that his boss was not encouraging violence and condemned those who didn’t “treat one another with respect.”
