Rep. Steve Cohen under fire for saying he wished Marsha Blackburn would jump off a bridge

Joel Ebert | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Listen: Audio of Rep. Steve Cohen saying he wished Marsha Blackburn would jump off a bridge Audio of Rep. Steve Cohen saying he wished Marsha Blackburn would jump of a bridge

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is coming under fire for remarks he made last month in which he wished President Donald Trump would encourage U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn to jump off a bridge.

Cohen's remarks, which were first reported by Huffington Post on Thursday night, came at a community prayer breakfast on July 28 hosted by former Gov. Phil Bredesen's U.S. Senate campaign at the Broadway Baptist Church in Memphis.

"The big orange president, that’s not somebody from Knoxville," Cohen said, talking about how the race is expected to be tight. "He’s going to come down here and endorse Marsha Blackburn. 'Cause Marsha Blackburn, if he says, 'jump off the Harahan Bridge,' she’ll jump off the Harahan Bridge."

"I wish he’d say that," said Cohen, whose comments were met with laughter. "She will do anything he says."

The Harahan Bridge spans the Mississippi River between Memphis and West Memphis, Arkansas.

Cohen said late Thursday that he was joking and meant Blackburn no harm.

The West Tennessee congressman's rhetoric was quickly blasted by Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden.

"At a time when our country is combating a mental health crisis, it's shocking and, frankly, sickening to hear a Democratic congressman actively wishing for a Republican congressman's suicide. The fact that these shameful and violent remarks came at a prayer breakfast make them that much more disappointing," Golden said in a statement.

Cohen's remarks make him the latest Democrat to have their comments about the president come under fire in recent weeks. The USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee independently obtained audio of Cohen's comments.

Last month, Mark Brown, an operative for the Tennessee Democratic Party working to help Bredesen's candidacy, came under fire for comments he made on Twitter in 2016 and 2017 in which referred to Trump as "Putin's b---- and a "f-----gMoron" and "Racist much, f--kstick?" and his supporters as "idiots."

Related: Tennessee Democratic operative under fire for past explicit tweets about Trump, supporters

During the rest of his speech, Cohen said Tennessee has history of "great senators" which he said included Republicans like Howard Baker, Bill Frist and Bob Corker and Democrats Al Gore Sr. and Al Gore Jr.

"We need another senator we can be proud of, who will vote on issues, who will vote with his mind and will vote regardless and that’s Phil Bredesen. It’s not Marsha Blackburn," Cohen said.

Rep. Steve Cohen says FBI agent Peter Strzok deserves the 'Purple Heart' At a hearing before Congress, Rep. Steve Cohen said Rep. sayid FBI agent Peter Strzok deserves the "p

Last month, Cohen faced heat after he said that if he could give a Purple Heart to FBI agent Peter Strzok, he would. Cohen made the comment about Strzok, who was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference, during a congressional hearing and has since apologized.

Bredesen's campaign did not provide a comment about Cohen's remarks but pointed to the former Nashville mayor's speech at the prayer breakfast.

"I am running against someone. I really don’t want it to be about my opponent, about who is best, who is worse, who has made the most mistakes, or anything like that," he said.

"I want you to vote for the person who they think has the best ideas about how to create opportunity in Memphis, create opportunity in Tennessee, create opportunity in the United States of America. That is what we need our people in Washington to be doing."

During his speech, Bredesen, who spoke after Cohen, thanked the congressman for his attendance.

"I want to specifically acknowledge Steve Cohen, he is the one in the room who is in Washington and who I am hoping to join," Bredesen said.

"He and I have been working together for a long time over the years, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to continuing that relationship and I appreciate you being here."

Cohen's remarks also come just weeks after Ward Baker, a Republican strategist working on Blackburn's campaign, said the race would be won by "death by 10,000 cuts" and said he was keeping a list of Republicans working against her campaign.

Baker, known for his hard-nosed approach to politics, spoke to a group of Republicans in Nashville last month and used a boxing analogy to describe the Senate campaign. Democrats have criticized Baker for his comments.

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.