Monday, Democrat Ted Strickland was at a campaign appearance in Cleveland. Strickland is running to unseat Rob Portman. Just to show you how thoroughly the mere presence of Donald Trump has debased our political discourse, he said this:

Ohio Senate candidate Ted Strickland joked about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday, saying it came “at a good time” for union workers since he was unable to cast the deciding vote in a March case that ended up in a 4-4 deadlock.

According to a video posted on YouTube Tuesday by NTK Network, Strickland made the remarks in Cleveland, telling AFL-CIO members that Scalia’s death “saved labor” from a terrible decision in the case, which could have dealt a blow to the ability of public-sector unions to collect fees from those who decide against joining the union and pay for collective bargaining activities.

“In about three and a half months, we’ll make a decision about who occupies the executive branch, what party controls the Senate, and growing out of those two decisions will be the future of the United States Supreme Court,” the former governor told attendees. “And my friends, a lot of average citizens out there don’t understand the importance of that court.

“I mean, the death of Scalia saved labor from a terrible decision,” Strickland said to cheers, with laughter soon filling the room as he made the joke. “And I don’t wish anyone ill, but it happened at a good time because once that decision had been made, it would have been tough to reverse it.”

You can listen to it here:

How do you even do that? But I suppose when the GOP candidate mocks people with disabilities, talks trash about an opponent’s wife, and seems to think it is funny to insinuate that Hillary Clinton should be shot, I shouldn’t be surprised.