President Donald Trump joked Wednesday that Rep. Steve Scalise being shot and critically wounded by a gunman earlier this year was a “hell of a way to lose weight.”
During a celebration at the White House of the passage of a major tax overhaul, Trump said Scalise had a “rougher year than most of us,” adding, “But — that’s a hell of a way to lose weight, Steve.”
Scalise was one of multiple individuals shot in June at a morning congressional baseball practice in Virginia. Scalise was critically injured and sustained damage to internal organs from the incident, but returned to Congress in September.
Speaking on the White House South Lawn surrounded by several Republican lawmakers, Trump also said the Louisiana Republican is “braver than all of us.”
The House of Representatives and the Senate voted to pass the GOP tax plan on Wednesday, marking a significant legislative victory for Republicans. The bill drastically overhauls the current tax system, the largest change in the system in more than 30 years.
The bill now will go to the President’s desk for his signature.