U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser has come under fire for victim blaming for saying on a local news radio broadcast that Gov. Josh Shapiro has “gotta tone it down” after the hate-inspired firebombing of the governor’s mansion earlier this week.
A Harrisburg resident, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, has been charged with attempted murder and arson after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails into the mansion on Sunday, targeting the Shapiro family during Passover. State police allege the attack was motivated by Balmer’s hatred of Shapiro, who is Jewish.
Speaking on WILK Newsradio’s “The Bob Cordaro Show” on Monday, Meuser, R-9, Jackson Twp., brought up the attack and said it was “absolutely awful, needs to be condemned.”
However, Meuser went on to note properties connected to President Donald Trump and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk have also been targeted for violence, saying liberals have been “continuing to make kind of violent type of hostile commentary” and “the left’s got to look in the mirror here, too.”
“Look, this has been going on from the left and the right,” Meuser said. “This instance — this guy was a psycho, of course, and our hearts go out to the Shapiro family on this — but they gotta tone it down too. I mean, every action Josh Shapiro has taken so far against the president has either been a lawsuit or a falsehood. And that’s not helpful either.”
Cordaro laughed at the comment, expressing his agreement.
“You’re right,” Cordaro said. “He’s one of the ‘Amen chorus’ for the Democratic lunatics. And my own view — and I don’t want to press this on you — his incompetence in protecting the governor’s mansion, which is all of ours, not just his family. And it is charred. It is substantially damaged. And, man, he better get to the bottom of the incompetence that allowed it to happen.”
Meuser went on to compare the attack to a bomb set off at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, saying Shapiro didn’t make “too much of a statement about that.”
“And so, look,” Meuser continued. “Let’s just take a breath and realize that this sort of thing needs to condemned by both sides all the time — 100% of the time.”
Democrats quickly pounced on Meuser’s comments during the interview, which he posted to his account on X.
“Instead of showing leadership, Meuser chose to blame the victim,” the Pennsylvania Democratic Party posted to Facebook. “Republicans like Meuser keep saying the quiet part out loud.”
During a news conference on Wednesday, Shapiro also denounced Meuser’s comments.
“I’ve said for years, leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity,” Shapiro said in comments released by his office. “It would appear that the Congressman failed to measure up to that.”
In a subsequent post on X seeking to clarify his comments, Meuser said he had privately reached out to Shapiro to express his concern and that “there is no place for violence of any kind in our society.”
He asserted that his comments during the interview had been mischaracterized.
“What I said in a recent interview — and what I meant — is that the broader political rhetoric we’re seeing from both sides is dangerous,” Meuser wrote, going on to note once again the attacks on properties linked to Trump and Musk.
He specifically noted the Shapiro administration’s recent challenge to a U.S. Department of Agriculture decision to cancel $13 million in funding to help food banks buy food from Pennsylvania farms.
“What frustrates me is when leaders make outrageous, false claims — like the Governor stating President Trump’s policies would make Pennsylvanians go hungry,” Meuser wrote. “We now know his claims were entirely inaccurate, and the PA Department of Agriculture has millions of federal dollars to continue supporting food banks. That kind of rhetoric is reckless. When people hear things like that — just like when political opponents are labeled ‘fascists’ or ‘Nazis’ — it fuels hatred — especially when it is not condemned by political leaders. And hatred can lead to violence. That’s the point I was making. It’s not helpful. It’s irresponsible. And it’s something that needs to stop — from both sides of the aisle.”
A spokesman for Meuser did not immediately return a message seeking further comment Thursday.
Source: Berkshire mont