Al Schmidt, a Republican and Philadelphia election commissioner, was on CNN's New Day and was asked to comment on these remarks by Ryan Kelley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan, and Mike Detmer, a GOP state senate candidate.
Schmidt called it a "dangerous escalation."
"It’s an example of the sort of dangerous escalation of rhetoric that we’re seeing around elections right now. The language itself isn't entirely new. The first death threat that I received was using very similar terms, 'You are what the Second Amendment is for, corrupt election administrators like you, you’re going to get what’s coming to you,' " he said.
"It’s that there’s a big difference between some creep sitting home on his sofa, fired up, calling in and leaving a voicemail threat in the dark of night, and someone who who is running for public office, speaking into a microphone in front of a group of people and doing this."
Yep. It's chilling.