August 6, 2023

Federal employees are fighting back over Ron DeSantis and his threats against them. Via Government Executive:

The American Federation of Government Employees said federal workers have dedicated their lives to serving the country and DeSantis’ comments demonstrate he should not be president. AFGE has already endorsed President Biden for reelection.

“Gov. DeSantis’ threat to ‘start slitting throats’ of federal employees is dangerous, disgusting, disgraceful, and disqualifying,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said. “These public servants deserve respect and commendation from our nation’s leaders. No federal employee should face death threats from anyone, least of all from someone seeking to lead the U.S. government.”

He called for DeSantis to retract his comments, adding he has positioned himself “within the shameful tradition” of violence and public workers. Several federal agencies last year ramped up security around their facilities and told employees to stay vigilant after a wave of threats against government workers. The threats followed a search for documents at President Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the funding it provided for new staff and authorities to several agencies.

I'm glad to see a united front. These right-wing dipshits are dangerous, and should be treated as such. And while I don't kid myself that there aren't any MAGAts in the civil service, there are over 2 million of them and most of them probably want to be left alone to do their jobs:

Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said DeSantis "crossed a line with his comment about murdering federal employees."

"This is not a harmless–or even clever–turn of phrase," Reardon said. "It is repulsive and unworthy of the presidential campaign trail, and Gov. DeSantis should immediately retract it."

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon