Ed Henry of Fox News interviewed Tennessee U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn Friday about U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen’s violent remarks about her.
Henry remarked, “It seems like incivility in politics is growing worse by the day.”
He then played audio of Cohen (D-TN-09) saying he wished President Donald Trump would tell U.S. Rep. Blackburn (R-TN-07) to jump off a bridge in Memphis. The increasingly erratic Memphis Democrat made the statements at a prayer breakfast last month that was hosted by former Gov. Phil Bredesen, Blackburn’s opponent in the Senate race.
The audio recording revealed that Cohen said, “The big orange president…he’s going to come down here and he’s going to endorse Marsha Blackburn, because Marsha Blackburn – if he says, ‘Jump off the Harahan Bridge,’ she’ll jump off the Harahan Bridge. I wish he’d say that.”
Henry asked Blackburn for her reaction to the recording and Cohen’s claim he was joking.
Blackburn said, “It’s hurtful to hear that. Steve is someone who was a colleague of mine in the state Senate and then we’ve served in Congress together. I have worked with him on issues like infant mortality issues in Shelby County, and we serve in the same delegation so when you hear something like that, it is hurtful, and of course, we haven’t received an apology.
“He did say he was joking, but I’ve got tell you, Ed, there is an old adage that my grandmother used to say, and it was, ‘Never injure a friend, even in jest,’ because some of the most hurtful things will be said as a joke, or something that is kidding. So I think also the fact that this was said in a church at a prayer breakfast, that’s a little bit, adds to it also.”
Blackburn and Henry are not alone in failing to see the humor of Cohen’s violent remark.
Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said,“Phil Bredesen is trying to fool Tennessee voters into believing that he’s some bipartisan, moderate who will end the hyper-partisanship in Washington. How can he ‘end it’ when he won’t even condemn or silence the vile, despicable and hateful comments of his friends, donors and endorsers? Birds of a feather flock together, and Phil Bredesen’s partisan posse is showing his true colors.”
Watch the segment:
