BUZZ
Sen. Elissa Slotkin is under fire for suggesting recent college grads who consider working for the Trump administration might want to think twice — as they could be prosecuted.
Speaking Oct. 13 at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, the Michigan Democrat said potential legal problems should be a deterrent against working for Trump.
“I wanna look at these signature cases, and not just focus on the president, but on the people who enabled him,” Slotkin said. “I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds like fun. I might get an opportunity.'”
“I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,” she said. “I want that deterrent message.”
The Chicago Thinker student newspaper, which broke the news of the comments, posted the clip Saturday with the comments: “U.S. Senator from Michigan Elissa Slotkin hopes planned political prosecutions of republican leaders will scare young conservatives from getting involved in politics.”
The Detroit News reported that the “clip circulating on social media cuts out journalist Astead Herndon’s question that Slotkin was responding to on stage at the university about whether impeachment should be a focus for a potentially incoming Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. She never mentioned prosecution for staffers or prospective staffers in the exchange.”
But the comments were widely condemned on social media.
“This is incredibly disappointing and unprofessional coming from a US Senator – endorsing political prosecutions to dissuade patriotic Americans from serving their country,” posted Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
University of Chicago student Michael Bicksel posted that he felt her remarks effectively suggested that “me and other conservative students … should live in fear of political persecution if we dare serve our country in the Trump administration. Sadly for her, we will never be intimidated by her Bolshevik-style tactics.”
Even President Trump has weighed in on the controversy.
“When asked about the Democratic senator’s remarks Monday, Trump called Slotkin ‘a low-life who is ruining her state,'” the Washington Sun reported.
“Slotkin said that there should be prosecutions in order to scare people from going into politics. That’s a Democrat and that’s what they do,” Trump said. “That’s all they’re good at — and you know what? That’s why they’re getting their asses kicked.”
Slotkin, in an interview with MS NOW, said her comments have been taken out of context and she was just referring to illegal acts conducted by the White House.
“This shouldn’t be controversial: if you aid in stealing taxpayer money or directing it to enrich President Trump or his family, then you should be held accountable for that crime,” she posted on X. “That’s what I said, and I stand by it.”
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