Michigan Democrat Dingell on violent rhetoric: ‘I’ve had men in front of my house with assault weapons’

Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell spoke Monday about the violent rhetoric and threats she has received since being in office. 

“I’ve been in the Donald Trump hate tunnel,” Dingell said on MSNBC.  “I’ve had men in front of my house with assault weapons. I, too, have been threatened with being hung for treason.”

Dingell said “you keep going” in order to deal with the hate. However, she said she doesn’t like talking about it because she doesn’t like giving those groups attention. 

Michigan has dealt with multiple instances of public officials being threatened this year. 

“We have to do what’s right for the American people,” Dingell commented when addressing how to deal with the violence. “Public service is a good thing. There are a lot of people that are counting on us.”

Dingell believes the main issue is that people aren’t willing to talk to each other anymore and that she tries to remain open to all her constituents and talk to her Republican colleagues. 

“People use to talk to each other. They used to learn from each other. That’s what hearings were for. They weren’t theatrical shows. They were to get information to base sound policy decisions on,” Dingell said.