“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds, if not, you know, closer to 1,000 threats," Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told NBC News.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said the number of threats against her exploded after Donald Trump posted social media messages targeting Democrats on Thursday.
“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds, if not, you know, closer to 1,000 threats,” Slotkin, one of the six Democrats featured in a video that provoked Trump’s ire, told NBC News’s Ryan Nobles.
On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said they’d looked into security for the lawmakers who appeared in a video released earlier this week. In the video, Slotkin and five other Democratic veterans and former intelligence officers reminded service members that they could “refuse illegal orders” from the administration.
For context, these Democrats voted to end the government shutdown. It was largely viewed by the public as being the Republicans fault, as they hold control of the House and Senate and the office of the President. Dems were holding out for a renewal of subsidies for healthcare costs, where if the subsidies lapsed then many would see their health insurance premiums double, triple or worse. There wasn’t much incentive for the Democrats to make any concessions. Yet, for a few crumbs, they gave away their only leverage for retaining those subsidies, on the promise that there would be a vote. A vote which will not pass. If it were going to pass, they would have ended the shutdown.
Your interpretation of the original comment was fair, and I agree with you. Death threats are unacceptable.
Edit: I was wrong. Slotkin wasn’t one of the Dems who voted to end the shutdown.
I certainly agree that appeasing Trump isn’t going to work.
A thread about death threats on these members isn’t the proper context to bring up that kind of argument.
This situation isn’t a result of them voting on the CR so that comment is, at best, bad taste and at worst a toxic attempt at sowing division.