BIPARTISAN
in his statement, the Ohioan said he shares Trump’s “disappointment that Democrats at the State of the Union speech did not respond favorably to excellent unemployment numbers.”
“Good economic news should be celebrated by everyone, and it is a sign of the partisan division in our country these days,” Portman said. ”But we have to be careful about the language we use so we don’t create even more partisanship.”
Said Flake: “You don’t have to always agree with those on the other side of the aisle, but all members of Congress love their country, and none are treasonous.”
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted that, “Every American should be alarmed by how @realDonaldTrump is working to make loyalty to him synonymous with loyalty to our country. That is not how democracy works.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said treason is “not a laughing matter” but a “serious crime embedded in the Constitution, punishable by death.”
“How dare you lecture us about treason,” Jeffries said. “This is not a dictatorship. It’s a democracy. And we do not have to stand for a reality show host masquerading as president of the United States.”
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley insisted the president had made the comment in jest.
“It was tongue in cheek. The president was obviously joking. But what’s serious is it seems as though the Democrats put their personal hatred for this president over their desires to see this country succeed,” he said.
Flake didn’t buy it: “I have seen the president’s most ardent defenders use the now-weary argument that the president’s comments were meant as a joke, just sarcasm, only tongue in cheek. But treason is not a punchline, Mr. President,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee retorted: “I don’t really care what Sen. Flake has to say.”
The flap represented a significant departure from the night a week earlier when Trump talked of “extending an open hand to work with members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans — to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion and creed.”