Illinois congressman pushes back at report that he dismissed rhetoric’s tie to violence
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis spoke out Monday after he was criticized for reportedly dismissing a connection between rhetoric and hate crimes against Asian Americans in the wake of attacks.
Lawmakers are currently debating whether they believe a man accused of killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent, should face a hate crime charge in Georgia and whether the use of terms like “China virus” to describe the novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has been inciting attacks against Asian Americans for months.
“There’s always a connection between rhetoric and any crimes,” Davis told reporters during a visit to Collinsville on Monday. He represents Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, which includes a portion of Madison County.
His comments come after CNN reporter Annie Grayer on Thursday tweeted that Davis “told me he believed the suggestion there is a relation between rhetoric and hate crimes against Asian Americans is ‘all political correctness.’ Davis instead said phrases like ‘Kung flu’ or ‘China virus’ are no different than saying ‘UK variant.’”
Davis, R-Taylorville, has been pushing back since Friday, saying on Twitter that Grayer’s tweet was a misinterpretation of what he said.
“I know that words matter,” Davis wrote in a tweet on Friday. “I was on the receiving end of bullets at a Virginia baseball field in 2017 because a deranged gunman was intoxicated by politics. He was screaming ‘health care’ as he shot at Steve Scalise, my Republican colleagues, and me.”
Davis invoked the crime of James Hodgkinson, the man from Belleville who shot at Republicans during a congressional baseball practice, again on Monday.
“A crazed gunman, who was inspired by rhetoric coming from Democrats, coming from people who disagree with me politically, decided to come and try and kill me and my friends on a baseball field,” Davis said. “But I’m also not going to blame Democrats like Nancy Pelsoi and Bernie Sanders for using rhetoric that Republicans are killing people.
“Rhetoric is one thing, but we as Americans believe in personal responsibility, and the people who commit these heinous crimes are the ones that need to be held accountable.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth from Illinois has been vocal in the ongoing conversation about violence against Asian Americans. She tweeted Sunday that “offensive names such as the ‘China virus’ have led to innocent people getting hurt solely because of the color of their skin and it has to stop.”
After Duckworth’s promise to personally reach out to Davis about his comments, he said they spoke on Friday. “We had a great conversation,” Davis said.
The BND attempted to reach Duckworth and Grayer for comment on Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 2:02 PM.
