RNC, DNC feud over tea party remark

By TIM MAK | 1/12/12 7:07 AM EST

A brawl erupted between the two national party organizations as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday accused his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, of blaming the tea party for the Tucson shooting that badly wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

At the center of flap were statements Wasserman Schultz made at a “Politics and Eggs” breakfast in New Hampshire, in response to a question about how to improve the level of civility in Congress.

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“We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords, who is doing really well by the way, and I know everybody is so thrilled, as I am, to hear that, making tremendous progress,” said Wasserman Schultz, according to C-SPAN.

“But the discourse in America, the discourse in Congress in particular, to answer your question, very specifically, has really changed. And I’ll tell you, I hesitate to place blame, but I have noticed it takes a very precipitous turn towards edginess and a lack of civility with the growth of the tea party movement,” she immediately added.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71365.html#ixzz1jaKwrJ1X

Video and transcript: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2012/01/12/rep-wasserman-schultz-and-the-republicans-squabble-over-tucson