GOP lawmaker mocks DNC over Russian hacking

Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) is drawing ire for mocking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack in a social media post.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Blum shared a photo of the DNC headquarters on Capitol Hill amid below-freezing temperatures.

“Walked to work past DNC HQ this afternoon. Nobody there – I guess they couldn’t ‘hack’ this cold weather!” Blum wrote.

{mosads}Blum’s post came two days after intelligence agencies released a report concluding that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign meant to help President-elect Donald Trump win the presidency and undermine Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. That campaign included email hacks of the DNC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Trump and his advisers in recent days have been blaming the DNC for inadequately protecting its email systems from cyber threats.

Democrats are calling on Blum to apologize for appearing to take a cyberattack by a foreign adversary lightly.

“Congressman Rod Blum clearly and naively believes that Russia’s meddling in our election and the threat they pose to our national security and infrastructure are laughing matters,” DCCC spokesman Tyler Law said. “Rod Blum’s refusal to put America first is both dangerous and unpatriotic. He should immediately apologize.”

But Blum isn’t backing down. He suggested in a statement on Monday that Democrats should “let themselves chuckle at a harmless joke” and “relax a little bit.”

“The fake outrage and political correctness of the Washington, DC elite is exactly what people in the rest of America are sick of. My advice to Washington is to relax a little bit and let themselves chuckle at a harmless joke. We all need a little more humor in our lives, especially in the joyless world of politics,” Blum said.

It’s not the first time Blum has gotten in hot water for a social media post. Last year, Blum wrote on Twitter that Washington, D.C. “needs a recession,” a suggestion that didn’t sit well with local businesses and the city’s representative in Congress.