Former Obama deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes mused about the deaths of top Republicans on Twitter Thursday before being scolded by GOP Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was severely injured in the June Congressional baseball practice shooting.
And alongside the obits for Ryan, McConnell, and Pence https://t.co/fOrm1JZwpu
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) December 21, 2017
You may want to reconsider your rhetoric. https://t.co/VQVWej6n00
— Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) December 21, 2017
Rhodes issued the inflammatory tweet in response to fellow Obama White House advisor Dan Pfeiffer, who joked that he hopes President Donald Trump’s Instagram photo celebrating the passage of the GOP tax reform bill appears on the front page of The New York Times when Trump is indicted. Pfeiffer didn’t specify what Trump would be indicted for.
Rhodes agreed and added that the image should also accompany the obituaries of Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Scalise, who spent weeks in critical condition after he was shot during a practice for the annual Congressional baseball game, suggested Rhodes reassess his messaging.
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The sweeping tax reform bill, the most comprehensive of its kind in over three decades, passed both chambers largely along party lines Tuesday. The House passed the bill again Wednesday after last minute revisions made in the Senate to ensure the bill complied with the budget rules. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Jan.3 to prevent automatic spending cuts to Medicare from taking effect.