But he recorded a message that played at the top of the game, paying tribute to Rep. Steve Scalise, who remains in critical condition following a shooting attack on the Republicans practicing for the game Wednesday morning.
When he left, she said, Hodgkinson told her he was going to Washington, D.C.to "work with people to change the tax brackets". He has been sedated, but has been brought out of sedation periodically and been able to recognize and communicate with his family, Sava said.
"It's incredible", said congressional staffer Blake Nolan. There were reports of death threats being called in to congressional Democrats and Republicans alike.
The shooting occurred at a popular park and baseball complex in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, where Republican lawmakers and others were gathered for a morning practice about 7 a.m.
The game at Nationals Park carried on a century-old bipartisan ritual, this one tinged with worry about Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and the players' determination to answer the attack by coming together in sport.
The hospital said Scalise was struck by a single rifle shot to the left hip that went through his pelvis, "fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding".
Infection remains a considerable risk in the days and weeks during Scalise's extended hospital stay, Sava said.
During the president's visit, it isn't not known whether Scalise was conscious when the Trumps arrived, but the president spoke with his family in the intensive care unit, suggesting that might not be the case.
Trump calls reports of obstruction probe a 'witch hunt'
He had likened the appointment of the special counsel with the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history". The president made a tweet about his defeated Democratic opponent complaining that the probe is unfair.
"The. ways they could do that is you've ever been treated by a mental physician or in a mental hospital, or you've been convicted of a felony, or have been convicted of domestic battery", said Wagner.
"Nobody would have survived without the Capitol Hill police", Paul said.
Capitol Police officers in Scalise's security detail returned fire, and Hodgkinson later died from his wounds.
Officials said Hodgkinson was carrying notes on which he had written the names of some Republican lawmakers.
He "checked in" on Scalise, who the MedStar Washington Hospital Center said was in "critical" condition last night due to internal injuries and complications from his hip wound, according to a Pence spokesman.
Last year, the game, which pits congressional Republicans against Democrats, raised $500,000 for its charities.
On that day, a man later identified as the attacker approached Rep. Jeff Duncan of SC in the parking lot of the Alexandria, Virginia, ballfield, asking him, "Excuse me, sir, who's practicing today, Democrats or Republicans?" as Duncan recalls the encounter. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and did so only on condition of anonymity.
They came from all over the country Thursday night to watch congressmen play a game that they have played for more than 100 years - the congressional baseball game pitting Republicans against Democrats for charity at Washington Nationals Stadium. Investigators are still studying James T. Hodgkinson's social media profile and activities leading up to the attack.
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