Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., elicited a firestorm of conservative criticism this week when she said America is in its "angry teenage years" and suggested that President Donald Trump won the 2024 election because voters' brains are not fully formed.
"I don't think there's anyone who feels like what's going on right now is normal, even if you voted for Trump," Slotkin told ABC's "The View" on Tuesday. "We're about to turn 250 years old, right? We're still pretty young for a country."
"These are like our angry teenage years. We are going through this push and pull where we're happy, we're sad, we want this, we want that," Slotkin continued. "And what do you do when you have a teenager threatening themselves and others? You just try to get them through this period alive so that their brain can fully form."
When "The View" host Joy Behar asked the Michigan Democrat if she was referring to Trump, Slotkin clarified her remarks.
"No, I'm talking about our country," Slotkin replied. "We're a pendulum swinging. I don't think there is an American that thinks this is normal."
Conservatives slammed Slotkin on social media, interpreting her comments as an insult to Trump voters.
"Ah yes, we've reached the point post-election loss where Democrats just revert to calling Americans stupid for voting against them," Abigail Jackson, communications director for Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., posted on social platform X. "Not a single ounce of self-awareness to be found."
"Interesting to compare this to their arguments on transitioning teenagers," Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller wrote on X.
"This is monumentally insulting to the millions of Americans that voted for a change last November," Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said on X.
Slotkin, who was elected to the Senate as a Democrat in a state Trump won by 1.4 percentage points, delivered the party's rebuttal to the president's joint address to Congress last week.
In a Sunday interview with "Meet the Press," Slotkin said that the Democrats' loss of confidence following Trump's November victory isn't "something hidden."
"I think it's on us to be clear about not only leadership — and there's lots of leaders in both parties — but also a strategy," she said. "I think that's something that, as Trump has been successful in flooding the zone and, like every day, 15 things happening, we are still finding our footing, and I think you can't get better until you admit you have a problem."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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