Trump lashes out at ‘loser’ Rep. Debbie Dingell in swirling feud

Former President Trump hit back at Rep. Debbie Dingell’s (D-Mich.) criticism of his “rot in Hell” Christmas message, calling her a “loser” in the latest in a string of insults aimed at the lawmaker and her family.

“Debbie Dingell of Michigan is a LOSER, who is helping Crooked Joe Biden, and his Merry Band of Thugs, to DESTROY our Country with his INSANE Open Borders Policy, Inflation, High Cost Energy, Green New Scam, HORRIBLE WORLD DIPLOMACY, Afghanistan Catastrophe, All Electric Cars, and so much else,” Trump wrote Tuesday in a Truth Social post.

Trump’s comments came hours after Dingell appeared on CNN and tore into the former president’s message on Christmas Day, when he called for various people he sees as “looking to destroy” the country to “rot in Hell.”

Asked on CNN if things are getting worse in terms of threats against public servants, Dingell said, “They’re deteriorating and they’re getting worse…Quite frankly, I’m going to tell you that I think it was one of the most pathetic Christmas greetings I’ve heard when a former president of the United States, who wants to return, tells people on Christmas Day that they ‘can rot in hell.’”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in Claremont, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)

Trump’s Christmas Day message on social media targeted public figures, including world leaders and special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the former president’s actions surrounding the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith,” Trump wrote in the post, adding, “Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and ‘sick’ as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!” 

Dingell on Tuesday said the former president is “contributing to the divisiveness [and] division” in the nation, and brought up Trump’s attacks against her in years past.

In 2019, Trump came under fire for insulting Dingell for voting for his impeachment and suggested her late husband, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who was the longest-serving member of Congress in history when he died in February 2019, was “looking up” from hell.

---

More Campaign coverage from The Hill

• Dem group spending $5.2M to try to flip Santos’s seat in special election
• Jack Smith asks judge to bar Trump from making ‘political attacks’ in 2020 election trial
• Kinzinger says Christians who back Trump ‘don’t understand’ their religion
• Trump predicts Ramaswamy will endorse him

---

Dingell on Tuesday told CNN she faced threats and people outside of her house with assault weapons following Trump’s past insults of her and she urged individuals to respect one another.

“Violence is becoming normalized. Every last one of us has to stand up. We can disagree civilly; we need to respect every human being with dignity,” Dingell said.

Trump continued the feud in his Tuesday post, claiming Dingell abruptly changed her attitude about the former president following the funeral for her husband.

“When I gave, as President, her long serving husband, the absolute highest U.S. honors for his funeral, a really big deal, she called me, crying almost uncontrollably, to say that she couldn’t believe I was willing to do that for a Democrat. She thanked me profusely,” Trump wrote.

“Two months later, she was back on the trail ranting and raving about ‘TRUMP.’ She ought to focus on how badly the Auto Workers of Michigan, and the USA as a whole, are being treated by CHINA, to which Crooked Joe Biden has given this once great industry away!” he added.

Dingell has previously said some of Trump’s past claims about granting funeral accommodations for her late husband were not true.

Dingell responded to Trump’s most recent remarks Wednesday afternoon in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“We cannot ignore hateful, dangerous rhetoric, as much as we may want to. It is becoming too commonplace and being normalized. The use of ‘rot in hell’ in a Christmas message — a time for kindness, love, and peace — reminds us we cannot become desensitized,” Dingell wrote.