Besides Democrats, some Republicans are also criticizing President Donald Trump for labeling Democrats as “treasonous” and “un-American” because they did not applaud during his State of the Union address last week.
While giving a speech at a manufacturing plant in Ohio on Monday, Trump said that Democrats “would rather see Trump do badly than our country do well.”
“They were like death and un-American. Somebody said ‘treasonous.’ I mean, eh. I guess, why not? Can we call that treason, why not?” the president said.
Those comments led to a wave of criticism from Democrats. In response, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth quoted President Theodore Roosevelt in a tweet.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Hogan Gidley, the White House spokesman said that the president’s remarks on treason were offered as tongue-in-cheek.
“The president was obviously joking. But what’s serious is the Democrats seem to put their personal hatred for this president above their desire to see America succeed,” Gidley said in an official statement.
According to Reuters, Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican who frequently reproaches Trump and his policies, in a blistering attack on the Senate floor on Tuesday said that “Treason is not a punch line, Mr. President. Applause is approval of an idea, not loyalty to one’s country.”
“Our Democratic colleagues love this country as much as we do. To suggest otherwise is simply unconscionable.”
Representative Mark Meadows, one of the most conservative Republicans closely allied with Trump, condemned the president’s comments.
“Certainly saying that someone’s un-American because of their unwillingness to clap is not something that most Americans would agree with,” he said.
Republican Representative Claudia Tenney was the only one that defended Trump. On Tuesday, during an interview on CNN, she said “I would say it was un-American, and they don’t love our country. I don’t know if I would go as far as treasonous, but the president is before a large audience and he likes to talk in colorful language.”
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