CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk was next up to bat at a Congressional baseball practice 7 years ago when a gunman opened fire.
He told Channel 2 Investigative reporter Justin Gray when he saw the video of the assassination attempt on President Trump his mind went right back to that moment.
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“On the baseball field, one of the bullets went right by my right ear. Basically, the same thing that happened to Trump. I know exactly what he was hearing. And so, yeah, that sparked a lot of memories,” Loudermilk said.
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Loudermilk also spoke to Gray on that day in 2017, just after police bused him back to the capitol. At the time, he pushed for more civility from leaders in both political parties.
“We have to stop. We have to stop all the sensationalism out there,” Loudermilk told Gray in 2017.
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As the they sat down in Loudermilk’s Cartersville Congressional office, Loudermilk once again told Gray the political temperature is too hot.
“It’s the rhetoric drives people to do extreme things,” he said.
And he once again is pushing for a change in the way politicians in both political parties speak.
“We’re in this era where if you don’t believe 100% the way I want you to believe or the way I believe that you’re my enemy,” Loudermilk said. “The only way that we can bring this level down, it’s up to us. It’s up to the leaders in this nation and the media also.”
Gray asked Loudermilk if he’s discussed this with some of his colleagues in the Georgia Congressional Delegation who have become famous by engaging in that kid of rhetoric he is speaking out against. He said each member has to make their own decision about how they communicate with constituents.
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