‘This is Not What Our Democracy is About’: GOP Rep. Fred Upton Condemns Death Threats, Trump Defending ‘Hang Mike Pence’ Chants

Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) lamented the worsening state of rhetoric around the country between death threats and the lack of concern about political violence.

Upton spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday about his decision to support the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that President Joe Biden will soon sign into law. The conversation took a turn though when Tapper noted that things have gotten so “toxic” that Upton is getting threatening calls like the one he got from one person who told him “You’re a f*cking piece of sh*t traitor. I hope you die. I hope everybody in your f*cking family dies. You f*cking piece of sh*t trash motherf*cker.”

“You’re getting these death threats because you voted to fund roads and bridges and broadband,” Tapper said, “To what do you attribute all this? Is it Donald Trump attacking you? Is it Marjorie Taylor Greene calling you a traitor and posting your phone number? What has happened to the Republican party?”

“You know, it’s a sad day. It really is,” Upton remarked. He went on by defending his vote for the infrastructure bill and noting the backing that it had from other Republicans because it was “a bipartisan plan” that “needed to happen.”

From there, Tapper brought up Trump’s defense of his supporters who wanted to hang former Vice President Mike Pence as they stormed the U.S. Capitol. This led to the CNN anchor asking “How worried are you that January 6th was not the climax or end of the new era of violence and menace in our politics, but perhaps, just the beginning?”

Upton began by reflecting on the noose that was prominently displayed outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

It was a really scary day. That violence, I mean, you look at the calls to all of us that voted for the bipartisan bill this last week, the death threats that are there, a couple of arrests I think have been made already with some of my colleagues. We passed along the information that’s been sent to my office with phone calls and presume we’ll get some letters and other stuff here as well, but yeah. It’s a tough time and it’s so unsettling, you know, this is not what our democracy is about, these physical threats, not only to ourselves, but also to our family members as well as to our staff. It is a sad day in America, when this type of stuff, I’ve got a better four-letter word for it but I’ll save you, when it happens.

When Tapper pressed Upton for a specific response to Trump’s reaction to the “hang Mike Pence” chants, Upton also reflected on how Trump defended the rioters in his call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“It’s not right,” Upton said. “It’s not appropriate, and it’s certainly not totally appropriate as the president said in his own words, in terms of his actions that he took that day.”

Watch above, via CNN.