Eric Holder: When Republicans go low, ‘we kick them’

Former Attorney General Eric Holder said at a recent campaign event that when Republicans “go low,” Democrats should “kick them” in response, video that surfaced Wednesday shows. 

Holder, while campaigning for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D), said that it’s time for Democrats to be as “tough,” “dedicated” and “committed” as Republicans are.

“Michelle [Obama] always says that, you know, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ No. When they go low, we kick them. That’s what this new Democratic Party is about,” he said. “We’re proud as hell to be Democrats. We’re going to fight for the ideals of the Democratic Party.”

{mosads}Holder, who has said he is interested in a possible 2020 White House bid, also said Republicans have used their power “for all the wrong things.”

“They’ve tried to racial gerrymander, they’ve tried to partisan gerrymander. … They want to keep themselves in power. They want to cater to the special interests,” Holder said.

“We’re in this to win,” he added. “And the reality is if we don’t win, people who are less committed, less idealistic, less imbued with the values that make this nation really great, will run this country.”

Holder also clarified later in the speech that when he says to “kick them,” he doesn’t mean doing anything inappropriate or illegal. 

Holder’s comments surfaced one day after Hillary Clinton dismissed the idea of civility between Democrats and Republicans, saying that “you cannot be civil with” the Republican Party because it “wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”

“If we are fortunate enough to win back the House and or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing that the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN.