President Donald Trump hailed "the legend from Louisiana," GOP Rep. Steve Scalise, recalling his remarkable recovery after he was critically wounded in a shooting at a congressional baseball game practice last June.
In the president's first State of the Union speech Tuesday, Scalise beamed as his colleagues cheered and clapped for him.
"Some trials over the past year touched this Chamber very personally," Trump said. "With us [Tuesday night] is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House — a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work 3½ months later."
"The legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise," Trump said to cheers.
"I think they like you, Steve," the president added after the sustained applause.
"In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people," Trump added.