CNN anchor Jake Tapper condemned the United States’ current era of political violence in an impassioned monologue on Sunday, rebuking it as “repugnant and un-American,” after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.
“I keep hearing from politicians this morning that political violence has no place in America,” Tapper said on State of the Union, his voice cracking in his delivery. “Would that that were true. We are living in an era of political violence.”
Tapper recounted the last decade or so of violent attacks on national politicians, including the 2011 shooting of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ); the 2017 attack on Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA); and the assault on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in 2022, one that was meant for her, among other unsuccessful attempts.