Slotkin draws GOP fire over warning to graduates about Trump jobs
Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is under fire from President Donald Trump and other Republicans. She said probes by a Democratic Congress could make young graduates think twice about working for the Trump team. Slotkin says she meant that people who break the law should be held to account.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is facing criticism from President Donald Trump and other Republicans after suggesting that congressional investigations could deter recent graduates from taking jobs in the Trump administration, CNN, the Washington Examiner and Fox News reported.
At a University of Chicago event on Oct. 13, Slotkin was asked how Congress could reassert its role as a check on the administration, CNN reported. She said that if Democrats win a majority, they should pursue "signature" cases of corruption and look at aides as well as the president. "I wanna look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president but on the people who enabled him," she said.
"I want young people coming out of school to say, 'Should I go work for the Trump administration?'" she continued. "I want them to be like, 'Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don't want.' ... I want that deterrence message sent."
A clip went viral over the weekend, the Examiner reported. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X: "It is absolutely disgraceful to threaten young Americans for participating in politics and serving their country." On Monday, Trump called Slotkin a "lowlife who's ruining her state," CNN reported. Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, called her comments "disappointing and unprofessional," Fox reported.
Slotkin pushed back. She said Lee was "lying about what I said," CNN reported. "My point is, do not get yourself involved in illegal activity," she said on CNN Monday. In a post on X, she wrote that people who break the law to carry out the president's wishes "should be held accountable," the Examiner reported. Lee called her plan a "fascist move."
Slotkin was one of six Democratic lawmakers investigated by Trump's Justice Department after they posted a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders, the outlets reported.
She also said a conservative legal activist, Mike Davis, was suggesting she be shot when he wrote she should "learn about the Second Amendment, sweetheart," CNN reported.
What we know: Republicans say Slotkin threatened young job seekers, and she says she meant legal accountability.
What we don't: Whether a Democratic majority would open the investigations she described.
Where outlets agree CNN, the Washington Examiner and Fox News all report Slotkin's remark that she wants young people to think twice about working for the Trump administration.
Where they differ Republicans say Slotkin threatened young Americans with prosecution, while she says she was warning against taking part in illegal activity.