When Rep. Chris Collins, a Republican from New York, learned that a man had shot his House colleague Steve Scalise, he said, “I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric.”

Collins clearly blamed fierce dissent against President Trump for the shooting. “The rhetoric has been outrageous — the finger-pointing, just the tone, and the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters. Really, then, you know, some people react to things like that. They get angry as well. And then you fuel the fires.”