Republican and Democrat say Congress is more 'toxic' than ever and urge lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to spark up friendships
Two Michigan representatives, one Republican and one Democrat, on Sunday described the atmosphere on Capitol Hill in 2021 as 'toxic', claiming unprecedented partisanship has taken over and working relationships across the aisle have dwindled.
Going into the New Year, Republican Fred Upton and Democrat Debbie Dingell want lawmakers to find a way to disagree civilly.
'It's pretty toxic. There is no question about it,' Upton told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
'You know, you've got metal detectors now going on the House floor,' he explained. 'We get really nasty threats at home. The tone gets, you know, tougher and tougher. It is a pretty toxic place. I've never seen anything like this before.'
Dingell echoed those sentiments in the joint interview, saying: 'I want the American people to think about what's happening in our country, that this kind of hate, this fear is happening in communities across the country.'
'We need to really worry about our democracy and find a way that you can disagree with people and do it in a civil and agreeable way, and it really does have me very worried,' she added.
Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell (left) and Republican Rep. Fred Upton (right), both from Michigan, said Sunday there was an unprecedented 'toxic' environment in Congress in 2021
'It's pretty toxic. There is no question about it,' Upton told CNN's State of the Union. 'You know, you've got metal detectors now going on the House floor. We get really nasty threats at home. The tone gets, you know, tougher and tougher. It is a pretty toxic place. I've never seen anything like this before'
'I have a lot of friends on the other side and what we need to do is to all of us, get back to just remembering how much we have in common, just respecting each other, treating each other with dignity,' Dingell said to CNN's Dana Bash the day of Christmas. 'And I say to everybody, a little act of kindness towards anybody can make the difference in that person's day, week, or life.'
One recent example of the rising vitriol in Congress happened earlier this month with centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin finally definitively said that he could not support President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending and welfare package.
Outrage immediately ensued from members of his own party who essentially called him a liar and said he wasn't doing what was best for his constituents in West Virginia.
Even actress Bette Midler weighed in on Twitter, expressing her anger at Manchin by calling the people of West Virginia 'poor, illiterate and strung out.' Not even an hour later, she sent out an apology tweet claiming she was 'just seeing red.'
Other examples of the 'toxicity' of Capitol Hill are found in the frequent spats between far right members of the Republican Party and far-left members of the Democratic Party.
Most recently, Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Republican, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Democrat, have been at odds after video of Boebert surfaced where she made Islamaphobic comments toward her progressive colleague.
Boebert made a suicide bombing joke about Omar, a hijab wearing Muslim congresswoman.
Most U.S. voters think the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot is partisan
No action has been taken against Boebert because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says she apologized for her comments and attempted to reach out and speak with Omar, but was denied the chance.
Threats against lawmakers have been on the rise in 2021, following the January 6 Capitol riot at the start of the year as Donald Trump refused to leave office without a fight by urging his supporters to protest the 2020 presidential election results.
Upton suggested Sunday that the January 6 select committee is partisan. The panel was created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the Capitol riot after Trump was acquitted of inciting the attack in his second impeachment trial.
There are seven Democrats and two Republicans on the select committee after bipartisan efforts in the House did not come to fruition when Pelosi refused to allow the members McCarthy chose onto the panel because they objected to certifying the election results for Joe Biden.
'I mean, it was a scary day,' Upton said of January 6, 2021. 'And that's why I voted to have an independent commission. We passed it in the House. A good number of Republicans supported it, it didn't happen in the Senate.'
The results of Rasmussen Reports poll released last week shows that the majority of American voters believe the January 6 panel is a 'partisan committee that has weaponized its powers against innocent Americans'.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters shows 58 per cent feel the committee is partisan, including 44 per cent who feel strongly about that, while only 34 per cent feel the panel is fairly balanced. Another 8 per cent are unsure.
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