Who is Steve Scalise? Republican shot by Bernie Sanders fan once accused of white supremacist links

The Republican House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise (R-La), was shot several times while training for the annual congressional baseball game on 14 June.

Democrats were set to practice as well but this has been cancelled as they wait with security in the building.

The Republicans were training at the grounds in the run up to the 56th annual Congressional Baseball Game which was set to take place tomorrow, Thursday 15 June.

Scalise has been a member of Congress for a decade and is a well-known figure on Capitol Hill.

The 51-year-old was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1965 – one of three children and the son of a real-estate broker.

He attained a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge with a major in computer programming and a minor in political science.

He married his wife, Jennifer Ann Scalise née Letulle, in 2005 and together they have two children.

Scalise went into politics in 1996, representing the 82<sup>nd district in the Louisiana House of Representatives until 2008.

He is the currently United States House of Representatives Majority Whip and representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, In 2014, Scalise was elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives.

He has been a long-time supporter of Donald Trump. Backing the travel-ban for people from several Muslim-majority nations, he said: "It's very prudent to say, 'Let's be careful about who comes into our country to make sure that they're not terrorists."

His role as as Majority Whip was threatened soon after taking on the role when political blogger, Lamar White Jr. uncovered comments on a white supremacist website that suggested Scalise had addressed the European-American Unity and Rights Organisation in 2002, a group that was founded by Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Scalise admitted to speaking at an event hosted by the group, but claimed that he wasn't aware of the "racist nature of the group."

Later in 2014 an article that was originally written in 1999 was republished by Roll Call which discussed how both Scalise and Duke were considering running for the same congressional seat. The article said: "Scalise embraces many of the same "conservative" views as Duke, but is a far more viable candidate. "The novelty of David Duke has worn off," said Scalise.

Since the debate over the articles that were republished in 2014,, the congressman has had a scandal-free term and has worked on a more progressive style of politics.

He pushed for the election of Bobby Jindal, an Indian American who went on to become governor of Louisiana.

He is up for re-election in 2018.

The name of the gunman is James T Hodgkinson, who appears from his Facebook account to be a supporter of the left wing Democratic hopeful Bernie Saunders. He has since died of his injures following the attack at the baseball ground in Virginia.