President Donald Trump thrust Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) into being the poster-child for the president's quid pro quo. After voting to support impeachment, Trump attacked Dingell and her late husband John. He argued that because he was so nice to her during the death of her husband, she owed him her support.
Speaking to MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin, Dingell said that many have come to her defense and she is grateful for the kindness but that she really just wants to be left alone.
"I can't even figure out why me," she explained. "But I want to take a moment because it's not going to do anything. You can't take [the words] back. It happened. It hurt. A lot of people have said to me -- I've been very open about how hard it's been this year, but I keep going and, quite frankly, work and keep every minute occupied is the way I deal with the grief. But if we can use this as a learning moment for our country, which I am really worried about, the division, the fear and hatred that's dividing us, and can get people to think about trying to bring civility back, to take a deep breath before you say something that's cutting or cruel, then maybe something good comes of something that was difficult."
She noted that the last thing she wanted to get into was politics and finger-pointing.
"I don't think that takes us anywhere from where we are, but I will -- I'm going to be very honest," Dingell continued. "He was very kind to me when John died. And he called me and told me he was going to lower the flags and knew that I was sad and that John and I had had a wonderful love affair and that I was going through a hard time. And, quite frankly, it meant a lot to me and still to this day that the president of the United States called on his death."
She also explained that as a World War II veteran, Dingell earned his burial at Arlington National Cemetary and the president wasn't the one that had anything to do with it. She also said that her husband never appeared in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, as Trump claimed. It's unclear if Trump was mistaking Dingell for the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) who died recently and did lie in state in the Capitol. Dingell said that it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), not Trump, who offered to help with the funeral logistics and if she wanted Dingell to lie in state.
The Congresswoman said that she didn't want to give her husband anything out of the ordinary that others haven't gotten in the past when they died.
She said she would accept Trump's apology, but couldn't possibly care less if he apologized. She's simply trying to get from one day to the next. A campaign to get Trump to apologize would simply perpetuate a story she would just assume forget ever happened.
Watch the interview with Dingell below:
