Calls to punish Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) have mounted after she called for protesters and activists to “get more confrontational” on Minnesota’s streets if former police officer Derek Chauvin is not convicted for murder in the death of George Floyd.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also promised to bring action against her if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chooses not to act.
What are the details?
During a Saturday appearance in Brooklyn Center, Waters said, “We’re looking for a guilty verdict. We’re looking for a guilty verdict. And we’re looking to see if all of this … that took place and has been taking place after they saw what happened to George Floyd. If nothing does not happen, then we know that we’ve got to not only stay in the street, but we’ve got to fight for justice, but I am very hopeful and I hope that we’re going to get a verdict that will say ‘guilty, guilty, guilty.’ And if we don’t, we cannot go away.”
She added that activists must “stay on the street” if Chauvin is not convicted and insisted that demonstrators have to “get more active.”
“[We’ve] got to get more confrontational,” the Democratic lawmaker insisted. “[We’ve] got to make sure that they know we mean business.”
What has been the response?
In a statement, the New York Post editorial board said that the California congresswoman was “trying to create a civil war” and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ought to strip Waters of her committee assignments and “move for a vote to remove Waters from office.”
A lengthy op-ed added, “In supporting the second impeachment of President Trump, California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters said he was ‘inciting’ his followers, and was ‘trying to create a Civil War.'”
“By her own standards, Maxine Waters should be impeached and removed,” the board noted.
Other notable voices included Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who said that Democrats were “actively encouraging riots & violence.”
“They want to tear us apart,” he added.
Comedian and BlazeTV host Steven Crowder added, “If Trump was removed from Twitter AND Facebook for ‘inciting violence’ then Maxine Waters needs to be federally charged and impeached.”
Attorney and columnist Kurt Schlicter added, “This is an insurrection.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) tweeted, “The Radical Left don’t care if your towns are burning, if there’s violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities. As long as the Left appeases their anti-America base, their job is done.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday night vowed that if Pelosi doesn’t bring action against Waters, he will.
“Maxine Waters is inciting violence in Minneapolis — just as she has incited it in the past,” he tweeted. “If Speaker Pelosi doesn’t act against this dangerous rhetoric, I will bring action this week.”
