It’s nice to know that Rep. Frederica Wilson’s having fun with the contretemps over a phone call between Donald Trump and a young widow. “It’s amazing,” the Florida Democrat said with a laugh when asked by 7News in Miami for her reaction to John Kelly’s impassioned rebuke yesterday afternoon over her attack on Trump over the call. “I’ll have to tell my kids that I’m a rockstar now.”
Ugh:
7News spoke with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson as she reacted to hearing a statement from the White House chief of staff on a controversial phone call. …
“You mean to tell me that I’ve become so important that the White House is following me and my words?” she said laughing. “This is amazing. That’s amazing. I’ll have to tell my kids that I’m a rockstar now.”
As for those threats, Wilson said the proper authorities have been notified and since she has plenty of security, she plans to keep going about her business.
Our friend and former colleague Larry O’Connor expects that rockstar status to last longer than Warhol’s 15 minutes, and laments it:
Sadly, Rep. Fredrica Wilson, the Florida Democrat who dialed this narrative up to a factor of 11 (on a scale of 1 to 10) has figured out a way to forge a third path in response to Kelly’s briefing. She sees it as an opportunity for self promotion. …
No matter where you fall on the spectrum of reactions to yesterday’s stunning speech by Kelly, perhaps we can all agree that Wilson’s five minutes of fame are up and it’s time for this “rock star” to return to political irrelevance where she belongs.
But, sadly, that’s not how things work in media and politics circa 2017. I expect we should prepare for Wilson to throw her bedazzled cowboy hat into the ring for a senate bid in the coming days. So be it.
The whole controversy has covered no one in glory, except perhaps John Kelly. The media began pecking at this after a patrol mission in Niger went badly and resulted in four deaths, which needs some review to determine what went wrong and how it can be fixed. Trump then escalated it in his thin-skinned manner by taking the media’s needling over contacting the families of the fallen and turning it into a contest between himself and his predecessors, who understandably didn’t take kindly to Trump’s attacks, generating even more heat. Wilson then injected herself into the situation and gained a national profile off of what should have been a dignified and private process of condolence.
Thus far, no one’s shown any shame at all except for Kelly over the ugly and unbecoming behavior at every turn. The media is still chewing on the story, and Wilson’s now bragging about her “rockstar” status, on the basis of the death of a soldier who bravely served our country. La David Johnson and his family deserve better than all of this. Shame on everyone who politicized this process, including the Congresswoman who seems to think it’s all fun for her benefit.
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