Congressman Fred Upton is decrying the divisive environment in Washington and around the country. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union over the weekend, Upton said nasty rhetoric in the national discourse is affecting the ability of Congress to do its job.
“It’s pretty toxic, there’s no question about it,” Upton said. “Just before we adjourned for the Christmas break, one of our members had their words taken down. Usually, you just apologize, you just say, ‘You know, I was wrong,’ and you just sit down and life goes on. No, he couldn’t speak for the rest of the day. He stood by the words that he had. You’ve now got metal detectors going in on the House floor now, we get really nasty threats at home, the tone gets tougher and tougher, and it’s a pretty toxic place. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Upton pointed to school shootings as a sign the political situation is affecting Americans at home. He was joined by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who shared a voicemail left with her office by a man telling her he hopes she watches her family die. Upton said unless lawmakers work together, the nation’s problems aren’t going to be solved. He, too, has received profane voicemails at his office.
