Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia issued a bold challenge to his Republican counterparts on Sunday, urging them to "honor" former President Donald Trump by naming a federal prison after him. He even introduced a bill in Congress to do just that.
During an interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart, Connolly reiterated his call to rename a federal prison after Trump in the wake of a Republican effort to rename Dulles Airport after him. But this time, he announced new legislation he introduced to rename the Miami Federal Correctional Institution in Florida the "Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution."
Connolly's proposal comes in response to Republican lawmakers' suggestion of renaming Washington Dulles International Airport after Trump. In opposition to this idea, Connolly, along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz of Florida and John Garamendi of California, offered the cheeky alternative.
Connolly stated:
“There’s a nice federal penitentiary right near Mar-a-Lago."
“I just thought, for a guy who’s now got 88 criminal indictments pending ― criminal ― plus two major civil penalty trials that have already been resolved, costing him about half a billion dollars, I think it’s only fitting that if Republicans really want to honor Donald Trump, the most appropriate way to do that is to name a federal prison he might be visiting soon after Donald J. Trump.”
Capeheart laughed and Connolly's Democratic colleague, Representative Ro Khanna of California, joked that Connolly might get "a Trump endorsement... [because] I don't think there's a building he wouldn't want his name on."
You can hear what Connolly said in the video below.
Many felt Connolly's proposal was a brilliantly funny idea.
Trump is currently facing multiple federal criminal charges in Florida, including allegations of mishandling sensitive government information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits a new trial date in that case. Additionally, Trump faces state criminal charges in New York related to falsifying business records, with jury selection scheduled to begin on April 15.
The bill to rename Dulles Airport after Trump was initially filed on March 25 by Republican Representative Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, with support from six other GOP members: Representatives Michael Waltz of Florida, Andrew Ogles of Tennessee, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Barry Moore of Alabama, and Troy Nehls of Texas.
