South Dakotans should be grateful theyre not represented by the likes of Mike Lee.
When the Republican U.S. senator from Utah heard about the recent murder of a Minnesota Democratic state representative and her husband, along with the wounding of a Democratic state senator and his wife, Lees instinct was to politicize it.
On his personal X page (formerly Twitter), Lee described the shootings as a Nightmare on Walz Street, in an apparent attempt to connect the tragedy to Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, whose name Lee misspelled. Lee also posted, This is what happens when Marxists dont get their way, apparently implying that people with views on the far left side of the political spectrum deserved the blame.
Widespread criticism of the grossly false and inflammatory posts caused Lee to remove them on Tuesday. Yet he did not remove other posts with similar language about the shootings, including one that said Marxism kills.
Unlike Lee, South Dakotas all-Republican congressional delegation responded humanely. Senate Majority Leader John Thune was horrified by the shootings, Sen. Mike Rounds was disturbed, and Rep. Dusty Johnson was appalled. All three condemned political violence in their public statements. South Dakotas legislative leaders also released a joint, bipartisan statement condemning the attacks.
I am grateful for that. But Im also frustrated. Im frustrated by politicians who condemn violence some of the time, and then enable it at other times with their silence and their votes.
Earlier this year, Thune, Rounds and Johnson stood by as President Trump pardoned or released from prison about 1,500 people who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. None of the three men forcefully condemned the pardons, presumably because doing so wouldve harmed their standing with Trump and his supporters.
At the time, all three of their staffs ignored multiple emails from me seeking a comment.
But they could not duck the questions forever. Thune had the toughest time dodging reporters, due to his leadership role. When a pack of journalists confronted him in a D.C. hallway, he avoided criticizing the pardons. Were not looking backwards, Thune said. Were looking forward.
Rounds went a little further, but not much, telling NBC News, The president made that decision. Youll have to ask him. I will not defend it.
Johnson told South Dakota News Watch in February that we shouldnt be condoning violence, but he did not directly condemn Trump for doing precisely that. Then Johnson pivoted to criticize former President Joe Bidens pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.
Republican legislators in South Dakota, meanwhile, have spent years enabling gun violence by eliminating every common-sense gun restriction our state ever had. Last winter, they passed laws allowing concealed handguns on college campuses and in bars.
Not every Republican has always fallen in line with their colleagues in the Legislatures super-majority party. Some have defended the decades-old societal consensus that there are places guns dont belong. Two examples leap to mind from the legislative session that ended in March.
Rep. Jim Halverson, a Republican from Winner and a former Highway Patrol trooper, spoke out against guns on college campuses.
I have a really bad feeling about people in dorms with weapons, he said. It feels to me like a recipe for disaster.
Rep. Steve Duffy, a Republican from Rapid City, spoke out against guns in bars while noting that he grew up in a family that owned a bar.
This is crazy, he said. When you mix booze and guns, I dont know how you can expect anything good to happen. Sooner or later, theres going to be trouble.
Halverson and Duffy didnt just condemn violence. They each voted against the bill they criticized, at great risk to their electoral fortunes in a party thats heavily influenced by gun lobbyists.
We need more of that if were ever going to turn back the modern tides of gun violence and political violence. Having better sense than Mike Lee is a start, and issuing condemnations when its the easy and obvious response is even better. But we also need condemnations when its politically risky, and we need votes along with voices.
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