U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Democratic state Sen. Donne Trotter, a candidate to succeed Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress, shouldn’t get any special treatment as an elected official for allegedly trying to board a plane with a firearm and ammunition.

Speaking to reporters at a downtown hotel Friday, Durbin also said he remained optimistic that a solution to the so-called fiscal cliff could be reached by Congress before year’s end. But Durbin, the state’s senior senator and the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the chamber, also said Republicans need to realize that the November election results were a repudiation of tea party Republicanism.

More unhinged ravings from Dick Durbin at the Chicago Tribune