Former President Barack Obama used an interruption from a heckler at a campaign rally in Phoenix on Wednesday as a teachable moment, denouncing divisive political rhetoric that he said had spurred a man to attack Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“Wait, wait, hold up, hold on,” Mr. Obama shouted at a man who started yelling as the former president was stumping for Democrats running for some of the state’s top offices. “You have to be polite and civil when people are talking, and then you get a chance to talk.”
“Set up your own rally. A lot of people worked hard for this,” Mr. Obama continued. As the boos at the heckler grew louder, he implored the crowd to not be distracted before ruminating on the moment.
“This increasing habit of demonizing opponents, of just yelling and thinking not just that, ‘I disagree with someone’ but that they are evil or wrong — that creates a dangerous climate,” he said. “Because if your opponents are demonic, well, then there’s no constraint on what you think you can do to them.”
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