SLOTKIN: PROSECUTE TRUMP STAFFERS — "I WANT THAT DETERRENCE MESSAGE SENT"

By The Eagle Wire | October 18, 2026

Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin (D) is facing fierce conservative backlash after video emerged of her publicly calling on Democrats to prosecute members of President Donald Trump's administration — and openly stating she wants the threat of prosecution to scare young conservatives away from public service.

Speaking last week at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics during a live recording of Vox's America, Actually! podcast, Slotkin said Democrats must go beyond investigating President Trump himself and target "the people who enabled him."

"I want to look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president, but on the people who enabled him," Slotkin said. "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. I want that deterrence message sent."

A clip of the exchange, posted to X on October 17 by the student publication The Chicago Thinker, has since gone viral and ignited a firestorm across social media, with conservatives accusing the senator of threatening political persecution.

"Signature Cases"

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who voted twice to impeach Trump, argued Democrats should pursue targeted prosecutions if they retake power — not a blanket campaign, but carefully chosen examples.

"We do have to have accountability for the unbelievable corruption that we are living under right now," she said. "But you can't just make that your whole personality, right? So you have to pick signature cases, and you have to go after people and projects that are just super egregious."

Her language echoes remarks she made on September 30 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she proposed pursuing accountability prosecutions of Trump officials and compared the effort to post-authoritarian cleanups in Europe — invoking Poland's so-called "Iron Broom" campaign as a model.

Conservative Backlash

The fallout was swift. Conservative commentator Greg Price accused Slotkin of saying she wants to "prosecute everyone who works for President Trump." University of Chicago student Michael Bicksel, whose social post helped the clip go viral, called her remarks "Bolshevik-style tactics" and said students "will never be intimidated" out of serving their country. GOP strategist Nathan Brand called the comments "gross" and a threat to civic participation.

The controversy lands just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, where Democrats are targeting dozens of Republican-held House seats and polling shows voters deeply uneasy about the cost of living. For Slotkin — who has been positioning herself as a national Democratic voice — the clip is likely to follow her onto the campaign trail.

Her office had not issued a retraction or clarification as of Sunday evening.