Steve Scalise Recalls Near Assassination On Butler Anniversary: ‘The Left Is Getting More Radical’

President Donald Trump “has done a good job” fixing “internal problems” at the Department of Justice and FBI, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told The Daily Wire in an exclusive interview.

Despite “some internal rifts” — a reference to reported tension between Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino — the agencies are committed to getting rid of “bad actors.”

“Kash Patel has been cleaning up the FBI and trying to get rid of the bad actors,” Scalise told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan on Tuesday. “There will be consequences, hopefully, for the things that they did. If they crossed lines, we’re going to bring accountability.”

Scalise said he trusts Trump will do the right thing with the Jeffrey Epstein files. He said he doesn’t know if Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell will testify before Congress.

“Obviously, there were a lot of questions about the Epstein case. I haven’t been privy to those documents, the classified information,” Scalise said. “Look, I trust Donald Trump and his judgment. And ultimately, I think he’s going to get the right answers.”

Scalise said it’s “alarming” that, one year after Trump was shot at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the country still doesn’t know much about the shooter.

“But at least the president is doing the things that he said he would do,” Scalise said.

Scalise was shot in 2017 during the GOP’s practice for the Congressional Baseball Game. He said when he heard Trump had been shot, he wanted to extend the same support that he received years before.

“That night, President Trump came to the hospital with the first lady, Melania, and they were checking on me,” Scalise said. “I wanted to reach out and I texted the president and, obviously, he said he was doing well, but I wanted to look him in the eye, and I got to see him in person just a few days later.”

Scalise said Trump is “a man of strength and resilience.”

“We saw him stand up, even with blood running down his face, saying, ‘Fight, fight, fight,’” Scalise said. “I think that was such an iconic moment where the country, I think, has always known President Trump is a fighter for them — but they saw it that day.”

Scalise said he thinks the assassination attempt changed how Trump approached his second term.

“President Trump knows that he knows that it could have gone the other way, but it didn’t,” Scalise said. “And so I think he has an even sharper focus as a president in this second term than in his first term.”

Scalise said he’s concerned about increased violent rhetoric from the Left, especially calls for violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“It’s encouraging violent behavior. You’re seeing people attacking our law enforcement, including ICE agents, and they’re spurred on by a lot of the rhetoric from the Left that’s got to stop,” Scalise said.

The House majority leader said he wished the Left would condemn violence instead of ignoring it.

“The easiest thing to do is, if somebody is spurred to go commit violence, that we all quickly call it out,” Scalise said. “And you’re not seeing that right now from the Left, because it’s almost like they’re afraid of the most radical elements of their base. And sometimes you need to be a leader and step up.”

“This stuff isn’t coincidental, and words have actions,” Scalise added.

The next agenda item for the Republican Party, Scalise said, is telling the country about the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Democrats have “lied in every kind of way about this bill. We’ve actually had ads taken down, which is not easy to do because the lies have been so egregious,” Scalise said. “But now let’s go tell the truth.”

Scalise referenced the tax breaks and tax-free income in the bill.

“If you’re a waiter or waitress, you’re not going to have to pay taxes on tips. If you’re somebody who works overtime from a shift worker to a nurse to a police officer, you won’t be having to pay taxes on overtime, and it’s retroactive to January,” Scalise said. “Seniors get a tax break for small business owners.”

“The One Big Beautiful Bill was really a culmination of all of those promises that were talked about on the campaign trail to actually deliver for those families,” Scalise said.