COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, said Republicans and Democrats have so far failed to rein in their violent and divisive rhetoric more than two months after Republicans were targeted by a gunman during a charity baseball practice, and said both parties are at risk of ginning up more angry people around the country.
Stivers, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Washington Examiner that despite talk of coming together in the aftermath of the shooting, it didn’t take long before party leaders returned to the kind of rhetoric that has “incited” some people to violence.
“It always changes for a little while, and then it reversed. So everybody said, ‘gee, we need to look in the mirror and look at ourselves about how we might be contributing to this,'” Stivers said. “And then the next day, [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi puts out a statement saying the healthcare bill is going to kill people, and no wonder people feel incited because their own elected officials are telling them, ‘gee, there’s life and death at stake on these things.'”
“We all need to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out how we might be contributing to the problems with our society,” Stivers said.
“I don’t think there was enough or is enough on either side of the aisle,” he said. “I think we all need to continue to do that because we are a reflection of the society we represent, and we have a chance to mold the society that we represent and we need to take that moral leadership that we take seriously.”
A week after the shooting, Stivers was on the receiving end of a voicemail from a Central Ohio native who threatened him and his family. As a result, Stivers said he is implementing new security systems in his home district.
“I’m a military guy, so I always take security pretty seriously. I try to pay attention to it, but clearly the environment’s changed,” Stivers said. “There are a lot of angry people out there, and some of them might decide to do something dangerous and we all need to be ready for that. It’s a shame it’s come to that, but it is what it is.”
The threat came from E. Stanley Hoff, a Westerville, Ohio native who is represented by Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio. Hoff was charged with threatening to “assault, kidnap, or murder a United States official,” charge that carries a potential 10-year prison sentence. The trial is set to take place this fall.
Stivers is also taking precautions in his Hilliard, Ohio office, which used to serve as a police station. His office walls are lined with kevlar, and he plans to install bulletproof glass on the property in the near future.
