Longtime Lawmakers Yearn for a Time When Political Violence Was Rare

The longest-serving members of Congress blame different factors for worsening political violence in America, from the internet to the president to political division.

But they all agree on one thing: Political violence is much worse now than when they first took office.

“There was a decorum when I was first elected,” Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving congresswoman in history, told NOTUS in the Capitol rotunda. “Your opponent was not your enemy, they were your adversary.”

“You’re reluctant to go to certain things, so it cuts you off from the very people you want to see,” Kaptur added. “And all candidates have to be careful because the extremism is not just on one side.”

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Many lawmakers have accepted near-constant fear as their new reality, especially after several deadly and high-profile attacks on political figures. The uptick has inspired lawmakers to put $30 million in additional funding toward members’ security requests in Republicans’ government funding patch, which the Senate has not passed. Other than security funding, lawmakers aren’t in unison on any tangible plan to truncate the soaring violence.

Republican Rep. Tom Cole said political violence is “much higher” now than when he ran for the House in 2002, even if that election season was “combative.”

“You weren’t worried about doing town hall meetings,” he said while smoking a cigar in his office.

And back when Rep. Rosa DeLauro was elected in 1990, “There was never a sense that you had to look over your shoulder,” she said.

“The environment now from what it was when I first arrived here is toxic in terms of physical violence on members,” she continued. “Members have gotten so many death threats. It has been exponential.”

The public assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September and the arson of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home in April are just two events in a string of violence inflicted on political figures in recent months. President Donald Trump and his allies vowed to go after members of the far left they say are perpetuating the violence.

Trump himself survived an assassination attempt in July 2024 at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in which he was hit in the ear by a bullet, and the Secret Service was able to stop another possible assassination attempt later that year in Florida.

Violence has touched both parties.

In June in Minnesota, Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman were shot and killed in their home, and Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were wounded after being shot at their home. The shootings motivated one Michigan lawmaker to cancel her town hall after her name was found on the suspect’s hitlist of dozens of politicians and officials, including Kaptur.

And last month, a man that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was later pardoned by Trump was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“It’s an unfortunate development that we’ve had to adjust our quality of life and security protocols around,” Rep. Sanford Bishop told NOTUS, adding that it was “pretty sweet” before a plethora of metal detectors were installed in the Capitol.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi told NOTUS — while at least two staffers with earpieces accompanied her into an elevator — that the country is a “very different” place now compared to when she was elected in 1987.

“Anticipation is important. We anticipate that there could be violence. We don’t want to live in an ironclad place, but we have to be ready for anything,” Pelosi said.

Her husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked and beaten with a hammer by an intruder in the couple’s California home in 2022.

The former speaker referenced the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as one of several turning points in worsening political violence. Other lawmakers brought up different events, changes and inventions that they believe have been catalysts, including the Jan. 6, 2021, infiltration of the Capitol, the Iraq War, a lack of civic engagement, and the erosion of bipartisanship in Congress.

Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, who has been in Congress since 1981, said Trump’s rhetoric has been “violent.”

DeLauro echoed that thought, saying America needs a leader who “brings people together. That doesn’t call people names. That doesn’t divide people.”

“That is what is lacking now, amongst our leaders at the top,” she said. “They view it as politically beneficial
if they continue to divide people. That is an atmosphere that leads to violence.”

Cole didn’t name any names, but said the country’s leaders are partly at fault amid a changing, divided culture.

“You’ve got to watch your rhetoric, and you’ve got to be willing to condemn it on both sides,” Cole said. “I’m not sure that the leadership class of the country has set a good example.”

Another giant culprit, many lawmakers said: the internet and social media.

“The biggest change since I’ve been in politics is the internet and the way it can harm people,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was first elected to Congress in 1994.

Social media platforms have been linked to political violence by both Democrats and Republicans. During the 2020 presidential election, social media played a central role in spreading conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of election results, which Democrats have argued are directly linked to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. More recently, Republicans have said social media comments criticizing Trump or the war in Gaza are linked to antisemetic violence and targeted political attacks.

Hoyer agreed that “the level of violence has been exacerbated by social media.”

“I think social media is certainly a component of getting people angry at one another,” he said. “We didn’t have that when I came here, of course.”