Following the official passage of the GOP’s massive tax bill in the U.S. Senate and House, Donald Trump and his Republican allies took to the Rose Garden to celebrate. That’s where, during an overly long introduction to a handful of other speakers he insisted would be “short,” the president cracked a joke about Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) getting shot over the summer. “Steve Scalise, he’s braver than all of us. He’s braver. Where is he? He had a rougher year than most of us,” Trump said after singling the congressman out. “It’s a hell of a way to lose weight, Steve.”
Trump immediately added something to the effect of “you said that last night,” suggesting Scalise himself had (or has) made the self-deprecating joke. Without any context, however, the everyone watching the president’s remarks were left in shock and disbelief. In June, Scalise and two Capitol Hill police officer were shot when a gunman attacked the Congressional baseball teams’ practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The Louisiana representative faced a daunting recovery in the months that followed but was ultimately discharged from the hospital. He returned to the House floor and received a standing ovation in late September.
Scalise has faced criticism since for his apparent refusal to publicly acknowledge the fact that one of the injured police officers who saved his life is a lesbian. Even so, as reporters, pundits and lay tweeters from all sides of the political aisle have suggested via their responses, that doesn’t mean Scalise is deserving of Trump’s remarks.
Scalise nearly died. https://t.co/mlcwhk0MuT
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 20, 2017
This is a joke/remark that Scalise has made privately. I bet he's made it to Trump, but without much of a filter, Trump blurts it out at this moment in awkward fashion. https://t.co/ctgM5iSDZ0
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) December 20, 2017
“He had a rougher year than most of us. It’s a hell of a way to lose weight!” — President Trump on Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot and spent weeks in the hospital.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) December 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN/status/943574380449357825
“It’s a hell of a way to lose weight” —Trump says of Scalise getting shot
— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 20, 2017
“Helluva way to lose weight," Trump says of Steve Scalise, who was shot in June.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) December 20, 2017
OMG. Trump just joked that Steve Scalise being shot at baseball practice was "a hell of a way to lose weight."
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) December 20, 2017