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Democrats Block Censure Holding Maxine Waters Accountable For Alleged Incitement Remarks

By • April 21, 2021 5:22 pm

Despite repeatedly blasting former President Donald Trump for allegedly “inciting violence” that led to the January 6 Capitol Hill riot, House Democrats came to the defense of fellow Democrat, Rep. Maxine Waters  (California) as she came under fire recently over inflammatory remarks that she made over the weekend related to the trial of Derek Chauvin.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats — who have majority control of the chamber — moved to block a censure  of their colleague after top Republican, introduced by top House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (California), meant to hold Waters accountable for her very public call for violence on the streets.

McCarthy introduced the censure resolution Monday citing the rhetoric of Waters at a rally she attended over the weekend in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota where she urged protesters in Minnesota to “get more confrontational” should former police officer Derek Chauvin not get convicted over the death of George Floyd last year.

“Chairwoman Waters’ actions are beneath the dignity of this institution,” McCarthy wrote. “They raised the potential for violence, directed lawlessness, and may have interfered with a co-equal branch of government. I just introduced this censure resolution to hold her accountable.”

Hours later, the Republican lawmaker slammed Democrats for giving Waters a free pass on the issue once again. 

“Speaker Pelosi, and every other House Democrat, had the opportunity to condemn the violent rhetoric of our colleague Representative Waters,” he said. “Instead, they condoned it.” “And the House and our justice system are worse off because of it,” McCarthy added.

McCarthy’s resolution would have stripped Waters of position as chairwoman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee.

Meanwhile, several House GOP lawmakers backed calls to “censure” Waters. 

“As people elected to represent our country, we need to act with decorum and lead by example. That is why today, I supported @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy’s effort to censure Rep. Waters through a House Resolution for her dangerous comments,” Rep. Bob Latta (Ohio) wrote.

Rep. Steve Scalise (Louisiana) also slammed Waters for her inflammatory comments and even went to compare her comments on Chauvin trial to former President Trump’s words on January 6 — which was used by Democrats to push their second impeachment complaint.  

“President Trump used the words ‘peaceful’ … I haven’t heard Maxine saying anything about peacefully protesting,” Scalise said.

The Washington Post reported how House Democrats “killed” McCarthy’s censure resolution.

“Democrats held firm in their support for Waters with all party members voting to ‘table,’ or kill, the censure resolution introduced by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, 216-210,” the publication wrote.

Waters to protesters: “get more confrontational”

Protesters gathered Saturday night in Minnesota after the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, where Waters was asked for comment about the Chauvin trial.

“We’re looking for a guilty verdict … If nothing does not happen, then we know that we’ve got to stay in the street … we cannot go away,” the progressive lawmaker said.

Pressed on, she added: “Well, we got to stay on the street. And we’ve got to get more active. [We’ve] got to get more confrontational,” she added. 

The Democratic lawmaker also seemed to encourage people to ignore curfews that were instituted to quell violent riots and looting.

Republicans blast Maxine Waters

In a statement, McCarthy wrote: “This weekend in Minnesota, Maxine Waters broke the law by violating curfew and then incited violence. Increased unrest has already led to violence against law enforcement and her comments intentionally poured fuel on the fire,” he said. 

“We’ve heard this type of violent rhetoric from Waters before, and the United States Congress must clearly and without reservation reprimand this behavior before more people get hurt. But Speaker Pelosi is ignoring Waters’ behavior. That’s why I am introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Waters for these dangerous comments, and I hope that all my colleagues – both Republican and Democrat – will stand up for peace on America’s streets,” he added.

In 2018,Waters also called for “confrontation” against officials of the former Trump administration. 

“Let’s stay the course. Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up and if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station,” Waters said. 

“You get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

Earlier, McCarthy noted that he thought that there were 10-15 Democrats who would vote to censure Waters over her remarks.

Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.
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