Earlier this week, James Hodgkinson, a far-left extremist who volunteered for Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during the 2016 election, attempted to assassinate a group of Republican congressmen playing baseball in a park. Although nearby police officers managed to kill him in a matter of minutes, five people were injured, including Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the House Majority Whip, who remains in critical condition after being shot in the hip.

Following the shooting, many decided to put politics aside and come together to show their support for those who were wounded. Unfortunately, some struggled to understand why they should be kind to those they disagree with politically.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid, for example, recently suggested that due to Scalise’s politics, he deserved to be shot. Specifically, on Twitter, she tweeted, “Rep. #Scalise was shot by a white man with a violent background, and saved by a black lesbian police officer, and yet…” In the tweet, she included an image highlighting Scalise’s political record, which noted that he “co-sponsored bill to amend [the] constitution [to] define marriage as between a man and a woman, voted for [the] GOP House health bill, [and] co-sponsored [a] bill to repeal [a] ban on semiautomatic weapons.”

Rep. #Scalise was shot by a white man with a violent background, and saved by a black lesbian police officer, and yet… #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/Qm96T90c6Y — AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) June 17, 2017

The purpose of her tweet was to show that he was saved by a lesbian despite trying prevent gay marriages, needed health care despite voting to replace Obamacare, and was shot by someone whose rights he was fighting to protect. Although she didn’t explicitly say he deserved to be shot, one of her Twitter followers connected the dots. “So basically, he got what he deserved…” he tweeted.

so basically, he got what he deserved… — AE (@iamchefapple) June 17, 2017

In addition to Twitter, Reid also spoke out against Scalise while interviewing Rev. Dr. William Barker. “[I]t’s a delicate thing because everybody is wishing the congressman well and hoping that he recovers, but Steve Scalise has a history that we’ve all been forced to sort of ignore on race,” claimed Reid.

“He did come to leadership after some controversy over attending a white nationalist event, which he says he didn’t know what it was. He also co-sponsored a bill to amend the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He voted for the House healthcare bill, which as you said would gut health care for millions of people, including three million children, and he co-sponsored a bill to repeal the ban on semiautomatic weapons,” she continued, adding, “because he is in jeopardy and everybody is pulling for him, are we required in a moral sense to put that aside at the moment?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQNnTYN_xVU

Unsurprisingly, many were outraged by Reid’s lack of compassion. One of her most vocal critics was Fox News’ Howard Kurtz. “What Joy Reid is doing is just appalling,” argued Kurtz. “While Steve Scalise remains in a hospital bed fighting for his life, she’s attacking him because she doesn’t like his politics,” he criticized, noting, “for Joy Reid to tweet that Scalise was attacked by a white man but saved by a Capitol Police officer who she says is a black lesbian — Why bring race into it? Why bring sexual preference into it? It’s just ugliness.”

To make matters worse, Reid was not the only the one blaming the victims of the shooting. Earlier this week, CBS News’ Scott Pelley told viewers, “It’s time to ask whether the attack on the United States Congress, yesterday, was foreseeable, predictable and, to some degree, self-inflicted.” By saying this, Pelly is essentially trying to blame the violence on free speech.

Kurtz, however, also pushed back against this idea. “It’s not self-inflicted. We can’t blame people’s words for acts of violence. The only person responsible is James Hodgkinson who brought a rifle to a baseball game and started shooting,” he insisted. “Now, should both sides tone down the rhetoric which has gotten really harsh and toxic, especially here at Washington?” he asked and subsequently answered by saying “yes! I totally agree with that.”

Democrats and Republicans both need to keep in mind that we’re all Americans first. Although we have our differences, we should all be working together to push back against dangerous rhetoric. Failing to do so could quite literally get people killed.