Jen O’Malley Dillon sparked controversy with her remarks earlier this week
Conservative pundits say that crude remarks from a top aide to President-elect Joe Biden show that the incoming administration is not planning to work with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, who ran Biden’s campaign and will serve as White House deputy chief of staff, in an interview on Tuesday called Republican lawmakers ‘a bunch of f***ers’ and said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is ‘terrible.’
Dillon later told Politico she had ‘used some words that I probably could have chosen better,’ but Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce argued that the unguarded remark was revealing.
Bruce argued on Fox & Friends that Democrats ‘have no intention’ of unifying the country and are just seeking to settle political scores once in power.
‘Part of the theme of the Biden campaign is that they are saving the soul of the nation. And what are they saving it from? From Republicans, from conservatives, from Trump,’ she said.
Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce argued that the unguarded remark was revealing, saying Democrats ‘have no intention’ of unifying the country
O’Malley Dillon was talking about how Biden (pictured) got ridiculed by fellow Democrats for aspiring to work across the aisle. ‘I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f***ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible,’ she told Glamour
So there you are implying that everyone you say you want to unify with has destroyed the soul of the nation. This is unacceptable to Americans in general,’ said Bruce.
‘For years … Trump supporters have been called Nazis, and racist and the dregs of society. There is clearly no respect. And now we are about 75 million people who voted for the president,’ she added.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, on her personal Twitter account, also complained about O’Malley Dillon’s comments on Thursday.
‘Biden Campaign Manager called us “F***ers” !!!’ McEnany wrote. ‘She can try to walk back, but this says volumes about her boss who calls for “unity” while shouting that we are “assaulting democracy.” They think we are deplorable, irredeemable “F***ers”. SICK!!’
Dillon originally made her controversial remarks in a lengthy interview with Glamour magazine published on Tuesday.
They came as she reflected on Biden’s commitment to bipartisanship, saying it set him apart in the Democratic primary.
‘In the primary, people would mock him, like, “You think you can work with Republicans?”‘ O’Malley Dillon recalled. ‘I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f***ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible.’
Jen O’Malley Dillon, who ran Biden’s campaign and will serve as White House deputy chief of staff, called Republican lawmakers ‘f***ers’ in an interview published on Tuesday
‘But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too,’ she continued.
In response, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted in support of O’Malley Dillon’s comments, while White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized her for them Thursday afternoon.
Clinton, who infamously called Trump’s supporters ‘deplorables’ back in 2016, said any outrage over Dillon’s remarks was hypocritical.
‘People who stood by Donald Trump for the last four years are now claiming to be offended that a Democratic campaign manager used a curse word?’ Clinton mused. ‘I don’t think so.’
Some advisors close to Biden expressed frustration at Dillion’s remarks, according to Axios, and some Biden donors are even calling on her to apologize.
One unnamed Biden donor expressed fury at the unguarded remark, saying that even if they didn’t disagree with the sentiment, it shouldn’t have been expressed publicly.
Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield responded to the controversy in a tweet
‘For those of us who, from Day One, bought into Biden’s calls for civility and a return to normalcy, this isn’t just beyond the pale — it’s plain stupid,’ the donor told Axios.
Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield said in a tweet on Wednesday that Dillon ‘would be the first to tell you her mom doesn’t approve of the spicy language.’
Bedingfield added: ‘I would be the first to tell you that the point she was making in this conversation… is spot on: unity and healing are possible — and we can get things done.’
On Monday, after the Electoral College confirmed Biden’s victory, the president-elect promised to ‘heal’ the country.
‘Now it is time to turn the page as we’ve done throughout our history. To unite. To heal,’ he intoned.
In the same speech, he took swipes at President Donald Trump’s fruitless attempts to overturn the election.
‘In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,’ he said. ‘The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a lot time ago. And we now know that nothing – not even a pandemic – or an abuse of power – can extinguish that flame.’
‘Respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy, even if we find those results hard to accept,’ said Biden – alluding to Trump’s refusal to concede or accept the results.