Rep. Jack Bergman Blames the Media for Being ‘Complicit’ in ‘Inciting’ Heated Rhetoric

Congressman Jack Bergman, one of the Republicans who was at the baseball field where colleague Steve Scalise was shot this morning, spoke with Fox News’ Melissa Francis hours later about the rise in heated political rhetoric.

Bergman agreed with what fellow Congressman Rodney Davis said on Fox earlier about the need to “stop” all the hateful rhetoric.

But he went on to criticize the media in saying, “Unfortunately, and I’m looking all the media in the eye when I say this, friendships and cordial relationships don’t make good news.”

He said the Republicans and Democrats are united to bring civility back to Congress.

Francis asked him, “So you think it’s the media’s fault?”

Bergman responded thusly:

“I think the media’s complicit if they keep inciting as opposed to informing… You need to make sure that you think twice about how your words and inflections and phrases are going to affect all the people who might see it.”

Reports on the shooter have shown he was incredibly anti-Trump and was a fan of Senator Bernie Sanders––even volunteering for his campaign at one point. Sanders delivered a statement today strongly condemning the shooter.

UPDATE –– 3:17 pm ET: Bill Hemmer made a point of asking Bergman about those comments when he appeared on air again less than an hour later. Bergman implored the media to choose words carefully when reporting the news.

Watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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