On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) responded to a question on whether rhetoric from Democrats about the Trump administration has gone too far by saying that “there probably have been people who have said things that they shouldn’t have said, but that is true on both sides. And I do not think that the equivalency is really the issue here” and the Trump administration is trying to “crack down on their political opposition.”
Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “One thing I’ve seen the White House point out are comments that Democrats have made about Trump or his — people in his administration. Do you believe, in this moment, given what you’re saying here about what the country needs, that there are also elected Democrats who have gone too far in the way that they speak about their political opponents?”
Smith responded, “I think that there probably have been people who have said things that they shouldn’t have said, but that is true on both sides. And I do not think that the equivalency is really the issue here. What you have here is the president of the United States and the folks that are keeping him in power, that are supporting him, using this moment to try to figure out how they can crack down on their political opposition. And what we should be doing is we should be saying, I respect your right to say what you believe, and I’m going to protect your right to say what you believe. That is what free speech means in this country. And that is not what I hear Donald Trump or Stephen Miller or Elon Musk or any of these folks really standing up for right now.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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