Rep. Marsha Blackburn fired back Wednesday at her Democratic colleague, Rep. Steve Cohen, for saying he wishes she'd jump off a bridge, and against her Democratic rival for the Senate, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, for not standing for her.
"I would expect that with my opponent, Phil Bredesen, being in the audience that he would have said, 'We don't say things like that. We don't wish someone's demise or death,'" Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
Last week during a prayer breakfast, hosted by Bredesen in Memphis, Cohen was speaking of Blackburn in connection with President Donald Trump when he made the remark, according to an audio obtained by HuffPost.
"The big orange president, he’s going to come down here and he is going to endorse Marsha Blackburn, because Marsha Blackburn, if he says, 'Jump off the Harahan Bridge,' she’ll jump off the Harahan Bridge," Cohen said. "I wish he'd say that."
He later said he was only joking with the remark, but Blackburn noted that she and other Republicans often have to deal with personal threats.
"What we need to realize is our nation and the cause of freedom [have] been well-served by a robust, respectful two-party debate, and that is what the people of Tennessee want to see," she said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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