Trump implies at rally that the late Democratic Rep. John Dingell is in hell

(Image credit: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 19 December 2019

President Trump wasn't happy that Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) voted to impeach him, and he went low with his response.

As the House voted on Wednesday night, Trump was speaking to supporters at a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. He asked the crowd if they knew Dingell, calling her a "real beauty," and then mentioned that after her husband, the late Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), died earlier this year, he offered to give the family "A+ treatment" when it came to the state funeral.

"I didn't give him the B treatment," Trump said. "I didn't give him the C or the D. I could have." He claimed that Debbie Dingell called him, gushing, saying it was "the nicest thing that's ever happened, thank you so much, John is looking down." Trump said he told her not to worry about it, and then gave a cruel aside. "Maybe he's looking up, I don't know," he said. "Maybe." The crowd "ooohed" like they were in the audience of Maury, and Trump added, "Let's assume he's looking down." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.