A North Carolina Republican congressional candidate whose parents’ home was struck by a gunshot recently blamed a caustic political environment and in part his opponent for the disturbing incident.
“I think the most important thing to say is everybody’s safe at this point,” Pat Harrigan, who’s running to represent N.C. District 14, told “Fox & Friends” Friday. “This is politics at its worst and the reason it’s this way is because my opponent is desperate to do anything that he possibly can to talk about anything other than what actually matters in this campaign.”
The shot fired at Harrigan’s parents’ home just barely missed a room where his children were sleeping. He told ‘Friends’ hosts Will Cain, Brian Kilmeade and Gillian Turner that his opponent, Democrat state Sen. Jeff Jackson, had been pushing “vile and nasty” lies about him since the beginning of the campaign. He argued these various accusations have “led to a cascade of consequences” even before the shooting.
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“What I can tell you is that we have many more questions than we have answers at this juncture,” Harrigan said.
Harrigan shared his children often spend time at his parents’ lakeside home which is in a part of the state that sees relatively few shootings. The scare left Harrigan and his family shaken,
“As a former Green Beret, I’m used to getting shot at. I’m okay with getting shot at. I’m not okay with my family getting shot at. It’s another level,” hen said.
Before the scare, Sen. Jackson launched a political attack ad where he included images of one of Harrigan’s homes and images of his family. Jackson’s ad did not contain images of Harrigan’s parents’ home where the shooting occurred.
Since last month’s incident, Jackson’s team has taken down the ad.
“This was followed up by my opponent, utilizing very poor judgment to actually shoot an ad out in front of one of my homes and display that home for all to see in the world. I mean, in the era of Steve Scalise and Brett Kavanaugh and now Paul Pelosi, this is just unbelievable to me,” Harrigan said.
Harrigan also revealed he has had a “very credible death threat” and seen threats against his family’s security. He criticized his opponent’s “poor judgment” which he argued was a factor in the shooting.
“It doesn’t matter what he has to manufacture, he is willing to trade my security and my family’s security to score political points. And it’s reprehensible,” he said.
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Harrigan has since taken new safety measures, including wearing a bullet-proof vest and leaving his children in hiding to protect them from any other threats.
Despite the incident, Harrigan assured “Fox & Friends” viewers he was intent on continuing his campaign and remained dedicated to his mission.
“I can only control what I control, and that is my vision and my agenda for this district,” he said.
With four days until the midterms, Harrigan shared he hopes this event will prompt voters to reevaluate their vote.
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“I hope that they hold my opponent accountable for his poor judgment, because, quite frankly, it ought to be disqualifying for holding public office.”
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
