Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin pushed back Monday against Republican criticism of remarks she made earlier this month about discouraging young people from joining the Trump administration, dismissing the backlash as “manufactured outrage.”
The controversy stems from an Oct. 13 appearance at the University of Chicago, where a clip of Slotkin went viral showing her saying she wants to pursue “signature cases” against people who “enabled” President Donald Trump and send a “deterrence message” to young people considering working for his administration.
“I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds fun, I might get an opportunity.’ 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,'” Slotkin said. “I want that deterrence message.”
The comments drew sharp criticism, including from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who called it “absolutely disgraceful” to “threaten young Americans for participating in politics and serving their country” with legal retribution.
Appearing on CNN with Jake Tapper, Slotkin rejected that characterization.
“Yeah, well, look, that’s manufactured outrage. That’s his specialty. I think the thing that I’ve heard from my own Republican colleagues and peers, including interns and folks who work around the Hill who come to our events, they’ll tell you, ‘I was worried. My parents were worried, you know. It’s really messy. I’m not sure what to get involved in.’ Politics, in general, has become messy,” Slotkin said.
She added that her concern was with people being pressured into questionable arrangements, pointing to a hypothetical example: “When you’re being forced by this administration, for instance, to sign a contract that is given over to a company that Trump Jr. is on the board of, and you know that that’s a problem.”
Slotkin drew a comparison to a 2025 video in which she and five other Democratic lawmakers urged members of the military to “refuse illegal orders,” saying her message now is consistent with that earlier stance.
“My point is, do not get yourself involved in illegal activity. It’s the same thing I was talking about a year ago. Whether you’re the uniformed military or a civilian in government, if you’re being asked to do something by the president or his team, that’s illegal, you have a responsibility to reject that. That is my point, and that was the point I was trying to make,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Lee’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The White House pointed to earlier remarks by President Trump, who said: “That’s a hell of a statement. 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 a–es kicked.”
Slotkin maintained she was not targeting anyone based on political affiliation.
“If you are violating the law, then you should be held accountable, and that includes people who are supporting that activity. That’s the point I was trying to make. You’re not breaking the law? No problem. We can have disagreements all day long, and certainly Democrats and Republicans do. I don’t care if it’s just freedom of speech. I care if you’re breaking the law,” she told CNN.
In a separate interview on MS NOW’s “Deadline: White House,” Slotkin suggested gender may be playing a role in the intensity of the response from Republican critics.
“I think when you choose to call out their corruption, they clearly don’t like that. They’re clearly trying to change the conversation given what the midterms are and the state of the economy, the state of things around the country. I do think there’s something about being a woman and criticizing them and calling them out on that corruption that really gets under their skin, obviously, or they wouldn’t respond,” Slotkin said.
When contacted for comment, Slotkin’s office directed Fox News Digital to her remarks from the MS NOW interview.
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