What a guy! In 2013, when many Americans were losing their health care coverage thanks to the passage of Obamacare, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) gave them what amounted to a middle finger. “Change is hard,” he smirked imperiously. “Get over it. Barack Obama is president, and the Affordable Care Act is the law.”
More recently, Cohen displayed a more compassionate side, although the “victim” he was sympathizing with was contemptible FBI agent Peter Strzok, whom Cohen said “deserved a purple heart” for appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, where he answered roughly a third of the questions put before him.
On Thursday, evidence of a new Cohen gem emerged thanks, improbably, to the HuffPost, which published a soundbite of Cohen wishing that fellow Tennessean and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn would “jump off” a bridge.
The occasion for this latest instance of Cohen wit and charm was, of all things, a community prayer breakfast in Memphis last month. Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is running for the Senate against Blackburn, was present at the meeting. In the audio, Cohen can be heard saying:
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The big orange president. … He’s going to come down here and he is going to endorse Marsha Blackburn, because Marsha Blackburn, if he says, ‘Jump off the Harahan Bridge,’ she’ll jump off the Harahan Bridge. I wish he’d say that.
As with every other mean-spirited utterance that emanates from Cohen’s mouth, this one, he explained to the HuffPo, was misunderstood. He clarified:
It was obviously humor: I wish her no harm. I hope she doesn’t get the Senate. And I wish she wasn’t a lackey for Trump. But I don’t wish her physical harm.
