Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett Says Thomas Markle Should Be ‘Hung’ if Convicted of Federal Charges

Rep. Tim Burchett has a few ideas on what should happen to Thomas Markle Sr. after his arrest earlier this month on federal charges of possession of child sexual abuse material.

In an interview with TMZ in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, November 11, the Tennessee congressman, 62, said the 82-year-old estranged dad of Meghan Markle should be “hung” if convicted.

“Literally,” Burchett added, suggesting hanging as an effective method for dealing with people convicted of possessing explicit images of children.

“I’m sick of that stuff,” he continued. “I have legislation dealing with it in Tennessee. I passed some of the toughest laws in the country, and some of them I couldn’t pass — according to the lawyers — weren’t constitutional.”

As The National Enquirer previously reported, Thomas Sr. was arrested on Friday, November 6, in Lakeland, Florida, following an investigation into alleged possession of inappropriate images of children after being reported to police by his son, Thomas Markle Jr. He’s been charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.

When asked if Thomas Sr. should be given a trial first, Burchett said of course, but told TMZ, “I think we got to stop with all the nonsense.”

“I’m tired of all the bleeding hearts and I’m tired of the acceptance,” the Republican politician added. “These people, they’ve got a network, and they’re a lot more sophisticated than just some creepy dude in a trench coat flashing kids.”

“It’s a pretty despicable bunch,” Burchett stressed. “I mean, it’s straight from the pits of hell.”

When asked again about the execution method, Burchett doubled down, telling the outlet, “I think hanging is what they’re due.”

Burchett’s comments come just one day after the Department of Justice reported that Thomas Sr., who had been released under house arrest, cut off an ankle monitor in the early morning hours of Tuesday, November 10, while he was awaiting trial.

This incident resulted in the 46-year-old Duchess of Sussex’s dad having his pretrial release revoked, with first assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli writing in a statement shared to X Tuesday that the DOJ plans to “continue to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”

Thomas Sr. has meanwhile denied the allegations, telling In Touch in October they’re “not true,” adding that he “did not have access” to the hard drives the photos were found on “for years.”

If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.