A House Democrat made a comment on national television Sunday that some interpreted as demanding the execution of former President Trump.
Stacey Plaskett, the delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the U.S. Virgin Islands and the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee, had appeared on MSNBC to talk about Trump’s classified records case when she made the statement.
🚨So-called Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett: Donald Trump “needs to be shot— stopped.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 18, 2023
The segment opened with Plaskett saying she was bothered by the fact that Trump ever had access to nuclear codes in his role as commander-in-chief.
She then described Trump as “having the classified information for Americans and being able to put that out and share it in his resort with anyone and everyone who comes through should be terrifying to all Americans.”
Plaskett concluded her statement by saying what sounded like the words, “And he needs to be shot.”
However, she immediately backtracked and said the word “stopped.”
Simon Ateba, chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa, tweeted that Plaskett “meant ‘stopped’ but said ‘shot’ before correcting herself.”
But others on Twitter felt the U.S. representative’s slip of the tongue should be taken seriously.
“So-called Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett: Donald Trump ‘needs to be shot— stopped,'” summarized Benny Johnson, host of political podcast The Benny Show, before adding, “One hell of a Freudian Slip…”
“Democrat Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett: ‘[Trump] needs to be shot— stopped.’ Lock her up!” demanded Ryan Fournier, founder of Students for Trump and executive director of Radical Alert.
Congresswoman Plaskett’s office did not immediately respond to a request by The Dallas Express for comment. However, she did release a statement received by The Dallas Express on Tuesday, which read:
“It is unfortunate that conservative media has taken an instance where I misspoke and misrepresented it as though I advocate for violence — I unequivocally do not. I wish former President Trump no ill will or harm, only that justice be served in his case as with every other American who must face penalties for wrongdoing. I do believe and did intend to say that he must be ‘stopped.’
“I do not advocate for anyone to shoot former President Trump. I do not encourage or condone political violence nor behavior that goes against democratic principles at any time.”
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