Story highlights Gingrich has drawn a line between violence and liberals before

Sanders said the alleged shooter was a volunteer on his campaign, and condemned him

Washington (CNN) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich responded to the shooting at a Republican baseball practice on Wednesday by saying it was "part of a pattern" of behavior on the left.

Gingrich, speaking on Fox News' "Outnumbered," offered his prayers to those injured and promptly lumped the violent incident in with what he called a broader trend coming from those opposed to President Donald Trump.

"It's part of a pattern," Gingrich said. "You've had an increasing intensity of hostility on the left."

He claimed he knew college students who said they had received death threats for saying they supported Trump, and also criticized comedian Kathy Griffin -- who was roundly chastised for posing in a photograph holding a bloodied Trump head -- and a New York production of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, which features a Trump-like Caesar.

Gingrich doubled down when a member of the panel, Fox News' Melissa Francis, asked him: "Does that make sense?"

Read More