State Rep. Al Baldasaro is not backing off his comment to send Hillary Clinton before a “firing squad” for “treason,” despite widespread backlash from Republicans and Democrats.
“I’m not going to apologize,” Baldasaro said Thursday at the GOP convention in Cleveland.
The Donald Trump delegate said during a radio interview Tuesday that Clinton “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason,” over her handling of the Benghazi attack. Baldasaro, of Londonderry, repeated the claim to the Monitor on Wednesday, voicing anger over Clinton’s handling of classified material.
The statement went viral, and quickly came under fire from Republicans, Democrats and the Trump campaign, which said it “doesn’t approve of this language in anyway.”
State Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn condemned Baldasaro’s statement and urged him to apologize. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte called the remarks “totally irresponsible” and added that they have “no place in our society,” according to WMUR.
Baldasaro said Thursday the two attacked him.
“To have classified material on a personal computer, that’s treason. And the law for treason says you can be shot,” he said, adding one must be convicted.
Baldasaro is a Trump veterans coalition co-chairman and has served five terms in the House representing Londonderry. The Secret Service is reportedly investigating Baldasaro for his remarks, but the Republican dismissed those claims.
“Everybody’s fine, they don’t have problems with me,” he said.
Clinton’s campaign tied Baldasaro’s remarks to Trump’s campaign, saying the businessman’s “overtaking of the Republican Party – and his constant escalation of outrageous rhetoric – is in danger of mainstreaming the kind of hatred that has long been relegated to the fringes of American politics where it belongs.”
The FBI recently recommended no criminal charges be filed against Clinton, the former secretary of state, for her handling of classified material in a private email account. But Director James Comey called the action “extremely careless.” Republicans continue to use the issue to attack the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.