Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell says profanity-filled threatening voicemail isn't first she's received

DEARBORN, Mich (FOX 2) - Congresswoman Debbie Dingell recently received a threatening voicemail.

The lawmaker from Michigan says the profanity-filled voicemail is only one of several she has received in recent weeks, and she has been getting similar voicemails for years.

In this particular call, the caller tells Dingell that he hopes her family dies in front of her.

She said the voicemails really picked up when former President Donald Trump disparaged her late husband, John Dingell, by suggesting he was "looking up" after his death.

"The kinds of nasty messages, nasty comments, just nasty how people can be sometimes, and it’s hard. People forget that we are human beings, that we have feelings," Dingell said.

She shared the voicemail on CNN during an interview Sunday. Dingell, a Democrat, was joined by Republican Congressman Fred Upton as she discussed the importance of civility in politics. 

Upton has also received threatening calls, as well as local officials.

Dingell said she reports the threatening voicemails to authorities. It is unknown who made the call. 

The congresswoman said sharing the calls and talking about them helps her cope with them. 

She noted that she hopes people can learn to disagree without being disagreeable.

"Maybe we could just try to treat each other a little nicer and not leave these kinds of threatening messages or go after someone. A little act of kindness is a lot better than screaming at somebody," she said.

Dingell's Dearborn office was also vandalized in November, but police said other offices in the building were also damaged, so it doesn't appear she was targeted.