Florida Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D) and Anna Paulina Luna (R) sent a joint letter to their colleagues on Wednesday calling for “peace and civility” in politics.
The bipartisan pair of lawmakers sent the letter just days after the attempted assassination of former President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. In the days since the incident, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have urged Americans to tone down political rhetoric leading up to the election.
Moskowitz and Luna echoed those calls in the letter sent on Wednesday.
“As Democrat and Republican Members of Congress, we call for peace and civility in our nation’s politics. Unfortunately, incivility and hate have become all too common in today’s political climate,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Political violence has no place in America, regardless of one’s political affiliation. The cycle of animosity and hate that has permeated our country’s political system needs to stop,” they continued.
A gunman opened fire at Trump’s Saturday rally, grazing the former president in the ear with a bullet, critically injuring two rally attendees and leaving one dead. The gunman was shot and killed by a counter-sniper shortly after he fired toward Trump.
President Biden spoke to Trump after the shooting and urged people to “cool it down” in a primetime address to the nation on Sunday.
The two lawmakers said that “the proper place to settle these differences is through vigorous debate and at the ballot box,” emphasizing that violence should never be the answer.
“We have the ability to lead by example and show people we can disagree without dehumanizing each other. Considering the current political division in our nation, we understand that this may be easier said than done. There is a system of hatred and grifting that has infused itself into our politics. We see it on TV and social media daily, making this task challenging,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We must find ways to find commonality with each other. Like the two of us, many of you are parents with sons and daughters who are going to inherit what we leave behind. As collective Members of the same body, we must ensure that we do everything possible to bring down the temperature. If we do not do this, we continue to risk the safety of our colleagues and the American people,” they concluded.