LIBERTY RISING

Speaking at an event in New Hampshire this week, DNC Chairman Wasserman suggested the Tea Party was responsible for the shooting in Tucson last year involving Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

“We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords — who is doing really well, by the way, — [was shot],” Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair said during a “Politics and Eggs” forum this morning. “The discourse in America, the discourse in Congress in particular … has really changed, I’ll tell you. I hesitate to place blame, but I have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and lack of civility with the growth of the Tea Party movement.”

Having brought up the Giffords attack as a political cudgel, Wasserman Schultz doubled down on that attack. “You had town hall meetings that [the Tea Party] tried to take over, and you saw some their conduct at those town hall meetings,” Wasserman Schultz said today. “When they come and disagree with you, you’re not just wrong, you’re the enemy.”

Using a human tragedy for purely political purposes and demonizing millions of Americans in this way is shocking, atrocious and desperate behavior. We urge Tea Party members across the country to contact Wasserman to demand an apology for such a shameful suggestion.