Trump Calls Slotkin a 'Low-Life' Over Push to Deter Trump Hires

President Donald Trump on Monday called Sen. Elissa Slotkin a “low-life” and accused Democrats of having “weaponized government,” firing back at the Michigan Democrat over her comments that congressional investigations could deter young graduates from working in his administration, according to video posted by Real America’s Voice and the White House’s Rapid Response account on X.

“They’ve weaponized government. Slotkin is a low-life who is ruining her state, just destroying her state,” Trump said in response to a question from a Real America’s Voice reporter, according to the Rapid Response 47 clip. “What they’re doing is really discouraging people from going into politics.”

"That's why they're getting their a**** kicked."

President Trump has a sharp response to Dem Sen. Elissa Slotkin after she said she wants the threat of prosecution to make young people think twice before taking jobs in the Trump administration.

When a reporter raises Slotkin's… pic.twitter.com/KciXUWJzye

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 19, 2026

Trump went further in a second clip posted by the White House account. “That’s a hell of a statement,” he said. “Slotkin said that there should be prosecutions in order to scare people from going into politics. That’s a Democrat and that’s what they do. That’s all they’re good at, and you know what? That’s why they’re getting their [expletive] kicked.” Fox News and TheBlaze also posted video of the exchange on X.

What Slotkin said

The fight traces back to Slotkin’s remarks at a University of Chicago event last week, according to CNN. Slotkin was asked how Congress could reassert itself as a check on the Trump administration, and she said that if Democrats win the majority, they should use oversight powers to go after “signature” cases of corruption, targeting not only the president but the aides who did his “bidding,” CNN reported.

“I wanna look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president but on the people who enabled him,” Slotkin said, according to CNN. “I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration?’ … I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want. And so let me avoid participating in that.’ I want that deterrence message sent.”

HuffPost reported that the remarks came during an Oct. 13 appearance on Vox’s podcast “America, Actually,” and that clips of the exchange spread over the weekend.

Republican backlash

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called the comments “absolutely disgraceful” and said Slotkin had threatened young Americans for participating in politics, according to HuffPost and CNN.

Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor also criticized the senator. “This is incredibly disappointing and unprofessional coming from a US Senator – endorsing political prosecutions to dissuade patriotic Americans from serving their country,” Kupor wrote, according to CNN. “In contrast, we at @USOPM believe in recruiting the best and brightest early career prospects.”

Slotkin pushes back

Slotkin has said her words were mischaracterized, CNN reported. In a statement posted on social media, she hit back at her critics. “Spare me the pearl-clutching — especially from Republican Members of Congress and online MAGA grifters who have cheered President Trump’s weaponization of the government against those he doesn’t like,” she said, according to HuffPost.

Slotkin also accused conservative legal activist Mike Davis of mobilizing “death threats” against her and her staff after Davis wrote that she should learn about the Second Amendment, according to CNN.

The clash comes in the final weeks before the midterm elections, with both parties bracing for a wave of congressional investigations into the Trump administration if Democrats win control of Congress, CNN reported. Trump’s comments on Monday were his first on-camera response to Slotkin’s remarks.

Sources

• Real America’s Voice on X: Trump on Slotkin
• Rapid Response 47 on X: “Slotkin is a low-life”
• Rapid Response 47 on X: “That’s a hell of a statement”
• Fox News on X: Trump responds to Slotkin
• TheBlaze on X: Trump responds to Slotkin
• CNN via KVIA: Slotkin faces GOP backlash
• HuffPost: Slotkin fires back at critics

Reporting by Daily Beltway.