Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo joined the Morning Joe show on MSNBC to discuss the election, and she has struck a nerve with many Make America Great Again (MAGA) allies, including the former president’s campaign.
In an eight-minute interview with Mika Brzezinski, Raimondo called to “extinguish” Trump in response to a question about former President Donald Trump claiming to be a “protector” for women.
“I don’t know how we’ve gotten here, but we sure as hell need to get out and get Kamala Harris in the White House,” Raimondo said. “We don’t need his baloney tell us he’ll protect us. We know the facts…It’s just another lie. How did we get here? Let’s extinguish him for good.”
Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga.
AP Photo/Paul Sancya/John Bazemore
Newsweek reached out to Raimondo’s office but did not hear back immediately for comment.
It appears that Raimondo was referring to ending Trump’s campaign at the ballot boxes in November.
Even still, Trump’s campaign X, formerly known as Twitter, account posted that Raimondo’s words emulated the assassination attempts against the Republican nominee,
“Ten days ago, a deranged Harris supporter tried to assassinate President Trump,” Trump War Room posted. “Yet, Democrat lunatics continue to spew this dangerous rhetoric.”
Libs of TikTok also posted, “Is this what toning down the rhetoric looks like?”
In the wake of a second assassination attempt against Trump in just two months, Republicans have been calling for the “rhetoric” against Trump to be turned down, blaming it for the attacks.
Trump said his alleged would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, acted on “rhetoric” from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration.
Trump spoke with Fox last week, just a day after he was rushed off of the golf course at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida, after Secret Service found a gunman in the bushes.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country—both from the inside and out.”
The majority of Raimondo’s interview was focused on the vice president’s plans to “bring down costs for middle-class America and all Americans, create more high paying jobs for everyone…and most important stability.”
“Kamala Harris is obsessed with bringing down costs, which the American people need most,” Raimondo said. “Trump will absolutely increase costs. His tariffs will absolutely increase costs.”
She said Trump will bring “vindictiveness” to the White House which will “lead us to a recession.” The former Rhode Island governor called Trump’s idea to tax John Deere 200 percent if they go to Mexico “horrible.”
“He just shoots from the hip with John Deere,” Raimondo said. “It’s petty. It is personal. It’s exactly the kind of chaotic leader that will, I really do believe, put us into a recession.”
In contrast, Raimondo said Harris is focused on the “gap between business owners and business workers.”
“She gets it. She gets where the average person is,” Raimondo said. “The vision is a new way forward in this country, where every American, regardless of where you live, where you started, if you have a college degree or not, can get a decent paying job to become a middle-class family and when you go grocery shopping or you take your kids to school it’s affordable.”
