On the same day that President Trump ripped into Twitter for tagging his post with a “fact check” link, calling it a violation of his freedom of speech, comedian Kathy Griffin also decided to test her protections under the First Amendment.
CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted a quote from Trump at a White House diabetes event on Tuesday saying, “I don’t use insulin. Should I be?”
Griffin responded, “Syringe with nothing but air inside it would do the trick.”
Such an injection could result in a fatal blood vessel blockage caused by one or more bubbles of air or other gas in the circulatory system, somewhat like the bends in divers.
Reaction was swift, with Twitter users tagging the Secret Service on their replies, and saying “This is a direct threat to the President of the United States.”
Griffin, for her part, was unrepentant. The comedian repeatedly — and very explicitly — responded to those complaining about her tweet.
This is not the first time Griffin has gone after Trump. In 2017, she tweeted an image of herself and what looked like the bloodied head of President Trump.
The president fired back, saying his 11 year old son, Barron, was impacted by the image.
Griffin later apologized for the image saying, “I went too far. I made a mistake, and I was wrong.”