President Donald Trump called U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., "a low-life" for suggesting young people be deterred from joining the Trump administration by ensuring that anyone who has enabled corruption face legal accountability.
“I think what they’ve done is weaponize government," Trump told reporters just as he was leaving the White House on Oct. 19 enroute to a campaign event in Kansas. "Slotkin is a low-life who is ruining her state, just destroying her state. What they’re doing is really discouraging people from going into politics. No, they’ve weaponized the government, the Democrats. That’s what they’ve done."
On Oct. 13, during remarks at the University of Chicago, Slotkin said if Democrats regain control of either or both chambers
of Congress in the midterm elections on Nov. 3, they should concentrate on an agenda that addresses affordability issues including health care and housing and also provides "accountability for the incredible corruption that we are living under right now."
Slotkin didn't specify what she meant by corruption but said Democrats need to "pick signature cases" and "go after people and projects that are just super-egregious."
When the moderator, journalist and podcaster Astead Herndon, asked Slotkin if impeachment should be a focus, she questioned whether it would be effective.
She added: "I want to look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president but on the people who enabled him. I want young people coming out of school to say, 'Should I go work for the Trump administration? That sounds 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 so let me avoid participating in that.' I want that deterrence message sent."
That moment from her remarks drew widespread attention on social media, along with criticism. Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management under Trump, posted on X: "This is incredibly disappointing and unprofessional coming from a US Senator — endorsing political prosecutions to dissuade patriotic Americans from serving their country."
Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer and Trump ally, called Slotkin's remarks "textbook fascism" and added, "This is why we have the Second Amendment," referring to the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Slotkin said on X that Davis was suggesting she be shot and accused him of "mobilizing death threats against me and my staff for sport."
"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. That’s what I said, and I stand by it," added Slotkin, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024 and 11 months ago drew Trump's ire — and a federal investigation — after she and a group of other Democratsurged members of the Armed Forces to disobey any illegal orders given them.
"If you use the justice system for frivolous lawsuits used to intimidate and jail your political opponents, you should be held accountable for that via your bar status. No abuse of power and not violating the law? Then we have no problem," Slotkin continued in her X post on Monday, Oct. 19. "We know most Republican politicians are desperate to change the topic from their failing agenda. That’s how this kind of coordinated right-wing media play works. The threats and intimidation — of me, my staff, and my family — are the point of this kind of play. This dude (Davis) and so many others are just hoping that we'll shut up in response."
"Not going to happen," she added.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. USA Today staff writer Bart Jansen contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump: Slotkin 'a low-life' for suggesting young people not work for him
