GOP Senate Candidate Defends Tea Party Activist Who Made ‘Kill’ Claire McCaskill Comment

By Alex Seitz-Wald/Think Progress


Republican Senate candidate Sarah Steelman defended today a Tea Party activist’s call to “kill the Claire Bear” — a reference to Sen. Claire McCaskill (R-MO), whom Steelman is running against. Steelman has been under fire this week from Democrats for not denouncing the remark, which came at a Tea Party rally last week that Steelman attended.

“There was nothing violent about what he said…no one perceived it as a threat,” Steeleman told KZRG in Joplin. No one, that is, except for the FBI, which reportedly interviewed the activist who made the comment, Scott Boston, and the Capitol Police, which assigned McCaskill extra protection. Boston later said he did not intend the comment to be a threat.

Steelman, did say that the “kill” comment was a poor choice of words and “a bad joke,” but dismissed the controversy and defended Boston:

STEELMAN: Are we just we just going to abandon all common sense in this country and anytime anybody says anything, the government is just going to come down and send FBI agents to knock on your door? Are we going to have thought and speech police? [...]

This is part of the problem in Washington…and people jump on somebody like Scott Boston, an individual, and they can put the whole force of the federal government on this guy.

The liberal research organization American Bridge recorded the interview:

Steeleman was at the rally with her son, who applauded Boston’s comment. Steelman’s Republican primary opponent John Brunner issued a strong rebuke of Boston’s comment, saying, “This type of rhetoric is unconscionable and I reject this kind of politics.” “Comments like these have no place in this U.S. Senate campaign, or any other campaign in this country, because they don’t represent American values,” the Republican said.

GOP senator continues to block TSA appointee — despite attempted detonation of plane

By David Edwards and John Byrne A Republican senator who is blocking the confirmation of President Barack Obama's choice to head the Transportation Security Administration said Monday that he will continue to block the nominee, saying that he's concerned Obama pick Erroll Southers would allow TSA employees to have collective bargaining aggreements.

In essence, a key conservative senator believes that union bargaining agreements are more important than having a person running the Transportation Security Administration, despite a near-bomb attack on a commercial plane last week.

"The president took eight months to even nominate someone for that position and what I've asked for, Matt, is just some debate and a recorded vote," DeMint said on NBC's "Today" show.

"I've asked [Southers] if he's going to change the policy of collective bargaining within the TSA and he will not give me a straight answer," said DeMint. Following the failed bombing of a Christmas day Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit, DeMint told Fox News that unionization was a threat to airport security.

"This is all about politics, and not security," DeMint said Monday. "What I want is a few hours of debate on Mr. Southers, to help focus the nation back on security and get this politics, particularly union politics out of our security apparatus."

DeMint took flak over the weekend from a Democratic senator, Claire McCaskill, who declared that DeMint's opposition to his confirmation was "nuts."

"All it's doing is hurting the traveling public, because the most important front-line agency to protect Americans, right now, on flights, is being held up over political stuff."

McCaskill's comments follow.

This video is from NBC's Today Show, broadcast Jan. 4, 2010.