The office for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) replied with a single word to a tweet telling the senator to die on Wednesday.
Hatch, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, is the longest-serving sitting GOP senator. He has become known in recent years for the personality of his Twitter account, making fun of his own minor mistakes and joking that reports of his death might need to be updated.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch, 84, has become embroiled in the chaos over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process.
{mosads}Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, beginning with Christine Blasey Ford, who is scheduled to testify alongside him at a Judiciary panel hearing on Thursday.
Both Ford and Kavanaugh, as well as their families, have reported receiving death threats since Ford’s allegations went public, and senators on the Judiciary Committee say they’ve been subjected to vulgar and abusive language as well.
“My office has received some pretty ugly voicemails, threats, terrible things said to my staff,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said earlier this month, adding, “This has been a very ugly process and I think that’s very unfortunate for everyone involved.”
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that his office got a call saying he and his family “would be ‘taken out'” for his statements on Kavanaugh.