Bennie Thompson knocks Trump over McConnell ‘death wish’ rhetoric

Source: The Hill | October 3, 2022 | Mychael Schnell

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, knocked former President Trump on Monday over his latest attacks on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and McConnell’s wife, condemning the comments as “inflammatory and racist.”

Trump, a frequent critic of McConnell, drew headlines on Friday when he launched a new attack on the Senate leader, who he said had a “death wish,” and referring to the senator’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, by a derogatory name.

“Former President Trump’s inflammatory and racist attacks directed at Senator McConnell aren’t helpful to the nation or our democracy. Worse yet, they could incite political violence, and the former President knows full well that extremists often view his words as marching orders,” Thompson wrote in a statement.

“While unsurprising, these attacks are not indicative of a leader and clearly set a poor example for future generations of Americans. I strongly condemn these attacks – as should all of my Republican and Democratic colleagues,” the Mississippi Democrat added. “We need to be better than this.”

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During a speaking event at Syracuse University on Monday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chairwoman of the Jan. 6 select committee, said the ex-president’s comments could spark violence and called his attack against Chao “absolutely despicable” and “racist.”

She also criticized her Republican colleagues for not denouncing Trump’s remarks.

“When you see former President Trump just in the last 24 hours suggesting in a pretty thinly veiled way, using words that that could well cause violence against the Republican leader of the Senate, saying he has a death wish and then, you know, launching a absolutely despicable, racist attack against Secretary Chao, Leader McConnell’s wife, and then you watch the fact that nobody in my party will say that’s unacceptable,” Cheney said.

“And everybody ought to be asked whether or not that’s acceptable, and everybody ought to be able to say no, that is not acceptable. They ought to be required to say that,” she added.

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