Republican Sen. Mark Kirk took a page out of the Democrats playbook Tuesday when he imagined blaming Democrats for a hypothetical terrorist attack if the Department of Homeland Security shuts down.
“The Republicans — if there is a successful attack during a DHS shutdown — we should build a number of coffins outside each Democratic office and say, ‘You are responsible for these dead Americans,'” Kirk told Politico.
Democrats are blocking a bill that would fund the DHS, because it would also deny any funding for President Obama’s executive order granting work permits to 12 million illegal immigrants. DHS will shut down Feb. 27, unless a bill is passed.
“In the end, eventually the lapdog media — of which you guys are probably all members of — is unable to call it for what it is: just pure politics to try to hurt the Republicans,” Kirk added. “I think Democrats mistakenly feel a shutdown is a scenario which advantages them.”
Republicans are hoping to place the blame on Democrats if the DHS shuts down, as they were blamed in 2013 for the government shutdown. Kirk’s comments are reminiscent of those of Democrats in 2013, who accused Republicans of holding the government hostage.
Former Vice President Al Gore called the shutdown “political terrorism,” and liberal pundit Chris Matthews called Sen. Ted Cruz a “terrorist.”
Republicans are searching for a way to avoid shutting down DHS without giving Obama a pass on his immigration order, but since Senate Democrats won’t pass the House bill and the House won’t pass a clean DHS funding bill, it’s unclear how they will move forward.
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