At his impeachment day rally in Michigan on Wednesday, Donald Trump resorted to his usual brand of name-calling and insults.
This time he went on a riff about Michigan Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell, who succeeded her husband, John Dingell, after he retired at the end of 2014 as the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history.
John Dingell died on February 7, 2019 at age 92. Which for Trump meant that he was fair game for mockery, namely, suggesting that perhaps he was in hell right now.
After complaining that Rep. Dingell voted for his impeachment, Trump claimed she requested that her husband lie in state after his death, and that after he "gave him everything," she called him to thank him profusely.
"She calls me up, "it's the nicest thing that's ever happened, thank you so much. John would be so thrilled, he's looking down he would be so thrilled. Thank you so much, sir." That's OK, don't worry about it. Maybe he's looking up, I don't know."
Watch it below:
Wednesday night after the rally, Dingell fired back with a tweet explaining to Trump how much his comments hurt her:
"You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder."
Dingell's office also released the facts including that John Dingell "didn't lie in the rotunda. Mrs. Dingell didn't request it and when suggested she declined. And that would have been a Congressional decision, not Presidential."
People on both sides of the aisle were outraged by Trump's words, with two Republican Reps from Michigan, Fred Upton and Paul Mitchell, calling on Trump to apologize.
Former Republican Senator Jeff Flake tweeted:
Megan McCain expressed her disgust.
And Justin Amash, former Republican Congressman, tweeted his support for Rep. Dingell:
Others were equally outraged.
Rep. Dingell, I'm heartbroken by Trump's comments. Your husband was an honorable man and patriot; I worked with him on the Hill and it was a privilege. Thank you for your work and for taking the high road with Trump. P.S. I miss Rep. Dingell's clever and funny tweets.
— mare6367 (@mare6367) December 19, 2019
The White House's response? That Trump is a "counter-puncher."
Keeping it classy as always.
@WhiteHouse/X
