Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal responded to Donald Trump’s extraordinary social media threat on Tuesday night as it was read out to him on live TV.
The president attacked Blumenthal after a fiery exchange between the Connecticut senator and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.
Trump followed Bondi by seizing on an old scandal that has dogged the senator for years. Blumenthal was busted for exaggerating his military experience, and has long suffered attacks from Republicans.
Indeed, Bondi confronted him over it during her Senate testimony on Tuesday, but Trump took it to a whole new level later in the day by appearing to threaten the lawmaker with prison time.
Trump evoked jailed former congressman George Santos and wrote on Truth Social: “This guy shouldn’t be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought.”
When asked if he had any concerns about Trump’s apparent threat to use the justice system against him, Blumenthal was sanguine. “It is just so completely deceptive and distorted. I‘ve seen the X post and it really is absurd,” he said.
Blumenthal was live on The Source with Kaitlan Collins to discuss his heated clash with the attorney general at the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing when he was confronted with the post.
Trump had labeled him “perhaps the biggest ‘joke’ in the United States Senate,” before going on to attack his military record.
Blumenthal has admitted that he misrepresented his service during the Vietnam War, but he did serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve during the conflict, which is a lot more than Trump. The president has been accused of faking a medical issue in order to avoid conscription for Vietnam.
“Blumenthal was found out to be a FRAUD. The soldiers in his so-called ‘platoon’ came forward and said that they had no idea who this guy was,” Trump wrote. “This guy shouldn’t even be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought. He should be allowed to speak no longer!”
Blumenthal admitted in 2010 that he had “misspoken” and had served in the Marine Corps Reserve during the Vietnam War, but had never left the country on active duty.
He said at the time, “I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.”
Responding to Trump’s latest salvo, he said: “This allegation of 15 years ago has been really rejected by the voters of Connecticut three times, overwhelmingly reelecting me.”
“But more to the point, I was honorably discharged as a sergeant from the United States Marine Corps. I served in the reserves, and I referred to my service ‘in Vietnam’ on a handful, just a couple of occasions, rather than ‘during Vietnam.’”
Trump, 79, was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War, but during the presidential campaign in July 2015 his camp said he had a “medical deferment for bone spurs on both heels of his feet.”
The two men have a history of fighting online. In 2017, Blumenthal called Trump a “bully” after he labeled him a “phony Vietnam con artist.”
“Never in U.S. history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child,” Trump posted on X.
He followed up with another post that read “I think Senator Blumenthal should take a nice long vacation in Vietnam, where he lied about his service, so he can at least say he was there.”
Blumenthal clapped back, “Mr. President: Your bullying hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now. No one is above the law.”
