In a Twitter message posted earlier this week, President Donald Trump described Republicans who oppose him as “human scum.”
The tweet generated a lot of controversy, and some GOP lawmakers condemned the president’s remarks. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, for instance, said that Trump’s comments are “beneath the office of the presidency,” according to The Hill .
On Saturday, conservative CNN host S.E. Cupp discussed the issue with former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, Mediaite reports.
The two got into a heated exchange, during which Duffy mainly dodged the host’s questions.
“I know you are a stand-up guy, a family man,” Cupp began, “you teach your kids good values,” she told Duffy.
“Would you, sir, call me human scum?” she asked.
“It’s not the language I’d use,” the Republican dodged the topic, but Cupp pressed him, insisting that he answers the question.
“I actually want to talk about what he said, because he called people like me human scum,” she interjected.
Duffy defended the president, arguing that investigations launched by House Democrats have been frustrating the president.
“I think the president is frustrated he’s been investigated for two years,” he said, praising Trump for deregulating the economy and cutting taxes.
Cupp changed the topic, reminding her guest that the president had suggested that there will be a civil war if Democrats impeach him.
The anchor then asked whether Trump supporters would be willing to “go to war against American citizens, their neighborhoods?”
Once again, Duffy deflected, refusing to answer the question directly. The former Republican representative said that the president’s supporters — and Republican voters in general — are “wildly angry” that Democrats want to impeach him.
“Is that a yes?” Cupp asked.
But, once again, Duffy dodged her question.
“I don’t know if you’d have civil war where people are taking up guns, but I think you’d have a political civil war,” he said, pivoting to talking about partisanship, and the differences between Democrats and Republicans.
“It looks like Trump is truly out of options, because he’s back to name-calling.” Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Trump & his GOP allies this week resorted to stunts instead of substance on impeachment. @secupp explains why she thinks it’s just sad at this point. pic.twitter.com/oTosOQqYlI
— SE Cupp Unfiltered (@UnfilteredSE) October 26, 2019
Some of the president’s allies have long warned that impeachment, which the House of Representatives launched over Trump’s allegedly inappropriate contacts with the government of Ukraine, could lead to a civil war.
For instance, in a recent interview, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the president has an “army” of loyal supporters willing to do whatever it takes to protect him.
Although the president’s base remains adamantly opposed to impeachment, a majority of Americans supports it, according to polls. In fact, some polling suggests that a majority of Americans supports both impeachment and removal of the president.
