West Virginia Republican legislator and United Airlines pilot Michael Folk is under scrutiny for a tweet he directed at Hillary Clinton on Friday which said “You should be tried for treason, murder, and crimes against the US Constitution… then hung on the Mall in Washington, DC.”
Folk said he posted the tweet with regard to the FBI's decision not to charge Clinton over her private email server.
Folk has since deleted the tweet and called it “hyperbole.”
Folk said in a telephone interview he still wants Clinton to go on trial, but he doesn't want her executed.
“It could have been said a little bit better,” Folk said. “I regret the tone, and the second part of that tweet. The biggest misconception is that for some reason, everybody thinks I made a death threat, which I did not. Clearly it was not that.”
The Justice Department announced earlier this month Clinton would not be prosecuted over her handling of classified information. Folk said he sent the tweet after watching a video of testimony before a U.S. House committee over the Clinton emails.
Some groups, including the West Virginia Democratic Party, are calling on Folk to resign:
According to a press release from the Bulldog Finance Group, Jon Cooper, Chairman of the Democratic Coalition Against Trump stated: “Saturday morning the Democratic Coalition Against Trump organized a petition asking that United perform an investigation and at the very least do a psychological evaluation before Mr. Folk returns to the skies. United Airlines then replied directly to the Democratic Coalition Against Trump with the message “We are appalled by comments advocating harm. They do not represent United & we are looking into the matter further.”
Cooper said today in response, “While we appreciate the prompt reply from United Airlines, until they take concrete action to protect the public, we are calling for a nationwide boycott of United.” The 20,000 followers of the Democratic Coalition Against Trump were asked this afternoon to help spread the word of the boycott.
The Trump Campaign, the Republican National Committee and the West Virginia Republican Party did not return calls and inquiries from CNN, USA Today, and multiple local news outlets in West Virginia.
“We need United Airlines to show we hold public leaders like pilots to a higher standard,” said Nate Lerner, Executive Director of the Coalition.
