Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.), who is retiring at the end of his current term, said in a new interview that there is “way more hate” in politics compared to years past.
“There’s way more hate in this business than there ever used to be,” Heck, who was first elected in 2012, told CNN.
Heck said that he considers President Trump to be a symptom of a “completely debased civic discourse,” the roots of which predated his presidency.
“His behavior amplifies and accelerates certain trends,” Heck said.
“He has no capacity for a sense of shame or even an ounce of humility to acknowledge when his actions or words may have hurt others,” he added, citing Trump’s disparaging references to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in his address at the National Prayer Breakfast last week.
Heck said both major parties are “violators” in terms of partisan rancor, adding “I wouldn’t even exempt myself on occasion.”
Heck claimed that during the impeachment inquiry in the House, a Democratic colleague asked: “What would it take? What would it take for these guys to acknowledge the reality of the wrongdoing that has occurred?”
“Unfortunately, when all is said and done, the answer is abundantly clear,” he told CNN. “There is nothing that could have. It is as though the president’s boast that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight and get away with it was manifest. That takes its toll.”
However, the Washington state congressman argued that even if some of his Republican colleagues would not push back on Trump or disagree with him politically, their retirements indicated a sense of weariness.
“I don’t think there is any question that there are Republicans leaving Congress because they don’t want to be part of Trump-style politics,” he said.