(Photo credit: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Mark Sanford  Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Rep. Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina, said Thursday morning that President Donald Trump is “partially to blame” for the rhetoric that led to Wednesday’s shooting during the GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

“I would argue that the president is at least in partially — not in any way totally — but partially to blame for demons that have been unleashed,” Sanford said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “[N]ot with what happened yesterday, but the fact that you’ve got the top guy saying, ‘Well, I wish I could hit you in the face. And if not, why don’t you and I’ll pay your legal fees.’ That’s bizarre — we ought to call it as such.”