Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) did not return to Washington this week after receiving a barrage of threats, according to her D.C. office spokesperson.
“We have received a lot of threats and rude phone calls since President Trump started this feud with her,” Wilson’s spokeswoman Joyce Jones told TPM Thursday.
Because of her absence, Wilson has missed at least 20 votes in the House since Monday, a move the congresswoman doesn’t take lightly, Jones said.
“Voting is extremely important to her. That’s how she expresses the views of her constituents and she wouldn’t miss votes if not for extraordinary circumstances,” she said.
The Miami Herald first reported that Wilson had been home in Florida all week instead of in Washington due to threats, after speaking with source close to Wilson and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL). The threats follow Wilson’s public criticism of Trump and the way he handled a conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, an American soldier who was killed in Niger earlier this month.
“She’s home,” Hastings told the Herald. “I have not spoken with her about it, but I’ve heard that she’s received substantial death threats and I think she is doing everything she can to ratchet down and let some of us, including me, take over.”
Capitol police are investigating some of the threats made against Wilson and the congresswoman plans to return to Washington next week, Jones said.
Wilson got entangled in a war of words with Trump last week, after Wilson told reporters that Trump couldn’t remember the Johnson’s name during a condolence call with his widow and suggested that Johnson knew “what he was signing up for.”
On Twitter, Trump claimed Wilson “fabricated” the story and accused her of lying and “SECRETLY” listening in on a “very personal” phone call.
Wilson stood by her story, which the widow later confirmed, and said she was in the car with Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, because she has been a close mentor to the fallen soldier since he was young.
Where’s the Capitol Police and the FBI?
(I believe that the Capitol Police protect members even away from the Capitol–but someone out there knows more about that than me.)
OK, Republicans, this is one of those moments when you have to decide: Do you stand up for one of your colleagues, or do you tacitly support this ugly racist intimidation of a sitting congresswoman through your silence? Waiting…
Trump:
(half-hearted tone)
"Ummmm, people…um… Please stop. I guess.
But I know you’re fine people "
The Trump Effect.™
Fine people on both sides. When you consider that questioning even one word of the administration’s statements is equivalent to treason, death threats – not that he would approve of anything bad happening, well not anything that bad – are really a perfectly reasonable response. Some of the best people have made death threats.