CNN’s Dana Bash was facing backlash Sunday for asking Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) about Democrats’ “heated rhetoric” toward President Donald Trump after the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“Do you think twice about that when something like this happens?” asked the host of CNN’s “State of the Union.”
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“What rhetoric do you have in mind?” Raskin replied.
The exchange (watch in the clip below) arrived after Bash suggested that divisive rhetoric has intersected with a spike in political violence in recent years.
Raskin noted that Trump has called the press the “enemy of the people” and sued multiple outlets before adding that he hoped the dinner — which Trump and other top officials in his administration attended — would have served as a “wonderful opportunity to try to reclaim the basic values of the country.”
After accusing Raskin and fellow Democrats of using “some heated rhetoric” against Trump, Bash pointed to the party’s talk of the president being “terrible for this country.”
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“I understand that that’s your democratic right, but overall, do you have a responsibility —,” said Bash before Raskin interjected.
Raskin said he has no “personal problem” with Trump, but rather, he’s focused on the administration’s policies like the “authoritarianism” on display during the deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
“I’m talking about policies. I don’t personalize it, and I certainly have never called the press ‘the enemy of the people,’” Raskin said.
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Critics on social media swiftly slammed Bash, including one X user who called her a “complete disgrace” and another claiming that it’s the “kind of bullshit that helped usher Trump right back into office.”
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