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Democrats are reacting furiously to a new GOP proposal to rename Washington, D.C.’s main international airport after former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., unveiled a bill backed by six of his fellow House Republicans to change the name of Washington Dulles International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport.
While the bill likely has little chance of being passed in the current Congress, it did succeed in triggering the ex-president’s critics when the legislative text was unveiled on Tuesday.
A GOP proposal to rename Washington, D.C.’s main international airport after former President Donald Trump has Democrats, including Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., angry. (Scott Olson/Getty Images | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges. If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., whose district partially covers Dulles.
The rest is in the district represented by Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., who sounded off, “This is just another in a long list of instances where extreme House Republicans have shown how unserious & delusional they are.”
“Let’s get to work on the real issues the American people sent us here for — not renaming an airport after someone who sought to undermine our democracy,” Wexton said.
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said he was at the transit hub with worried families when Trump’s travel ban on terror-prone countries, most of them predominantly Muslim, was fueling “chaos” at major airports.
Washington Dulles International Airport is frequently used by lawmakers and foreign officials. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
“One of Trump’s first acts as president was a racist Muslim ban that blocked permanent American residents from their own country,” Beyer said. “I went to Dulles to try to help innocent people caught up in the chaos. I remember grandparents detained for hours as their terrified families waited.”
Reschenthaler’s fellow Pennsylvanian, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said, “Dulles is an old, ugly airport that no one wants to see. So I think this is a fitting tribute to [the 45th president].”
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., called the bill’s supporters “children, competing for the attention of an abusive parent.”
Reschenthaler responded to Democrats’ anger, saying, “If Democrats spent as much time working for the American people as they spend attacking President Trump, our nation would not be in a state of chaos and weakness. Thankfully, the end to this nightmarish chapter of our nation’s history ends in November.”
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., introduced the Republican bill. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
He told Fox News Digital of his bill on Tuesday, “As millions of domestic and international travelers fly through the airport, there is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing ‘Welcome to Trump International Airport’ as they land on American soil.”
Dulles is a busy international hub that’s critical for lawmakers and other Washington officials’ travel, particularly for airlines and routes that do not operate out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, its smaller domestic counterpart also located in Virginia.
Dulles was ranked 33rd out of 764 U.S. airports in terms of passenger traffic in 2023, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. With domestic and international travel combined, roughly 25 million passengers went through Dulles last year.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
