Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said Republicans must “push back” against partisan Democrat and left-wing “thuggery,” offering his remarks in an interview with Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House.
“The left has been unable to win elections, and so now they want to win not by winning the argument… not by winning over independents. They want to win by thuggery, by physical intimidation, by emotional intimidation, by literally yelling louder than anybody,” Cassidy told House.
“That’s wrong. In our country, a democracy, you win by the power of your ideas, and your response to circumstances. Republicans have done very well with that, and the country is doing very well. The left should take some lessons.”
Breitbart News has cataloged hundreds of instances of leftist-driven violence and harassment — including incitement from Democrats and news media figures — directed against Republicans and conservatives.
“You’re always going to have folks who are a little unhinged,” said Cassidy. “[But] what we’re seeing now is people who are leaders in the Democratic Party encouraging it. It is no longer, ‘If they go low, we go high.’ It is, ‘We’ll only be civil when we’re back in control. Get in their face. Kick them when they’re down. Confront, Confront.'”
“I would just ask their leadership to cool it,” Cassidy added.
Cassidy says his Republican colleagues have become more cognizant of security concerns following the attempted mass murder of GOP politicians — in which Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was shot — by a left-wing supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“There’s no way after Steve Scalise that everybody does not have an awareness of that, and that’s probably true on the left but it’s certainly true on the right. So my family is cognizant of that. My wife is incredibly supportive. She’s a retired general surgeon. You cannot scare my wife,” Cassidy joked. “On the other hand, she also has concern for our family, as you might guess.”
In a recent viral video, Cassidy is seen advising the children of left-wing protesters of the presumption of innocence.
Recent weeks have included noteworthy Republican rebukes of Democrats and the broader left, including Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) description of Democrat-driven accusations of sexual assault against Justice Brett Kavanaugh as “the most unethical shame since I’ve been in politics.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) also derided Democrats’ and leftists’ conduct during the confirmation process for Kavanaugh, saying, “[The] confirmation process that has become so dysfunctional it looks more like a caricature of a gutter-level political campaign than a solemn occasion.”
House asked Cassidy what he thought was behind what she called the “GOP 2.0.”
“I can only speak for myself,” said Cassidy, “and the point is, when the left doesn’t win at elections, and they can’t win the power of ideas, but they want to resort to thuggery, then you’ve got to push back. Because if you don’t push back, they will not know where to stop.”
Cassidy noted how neo-Marxist postmodernism — which casts truth as both relative and subjective — shapes the core philosophical and political premises upon which contemporary left-wing ideology is built.
“Now, I am quite willing to sit and discuss an issue,” stated Cassidy, “but when you’re yelling at me, I will discuss it but I’ll discuss it in a way which this is the fact. This is no longer postmodern — there is no truth — the truth is is that no one is guilty until there is proof, as one example, and I just have a sense that some of these folks on the left want truth to be an artificial construct. It’s not. And conservatives know that better than all.”
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter at @rkraychik.
Follow Amanda House on Twitter and Instagram at @amandaleehouse.