As we previously reported, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) stepped in it big time with inflammatory comments she made over the weekend in Minnesota where she urged “protesters” to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” in the event former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted in the death of George Floyd.
“We’ve got to stay on the street, and we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business,” Waters, a defund the police hypocrite who has a history of incendiary comments, urged demonstrators during a Saturday march over the officer-involved shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center.
Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the Chauvin case, blasted Waters in response, calling what she said “abhorrent” and “disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function.”
Though the judge’s rebuke of Waters didn’t seem to bother House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), a number of other House Democrats are said to be privately fuming over the situation and are signaling that they may support the censure efforts of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Fox News Congressional reporter Chad Pegram filed a report on possible Democrat defections last night via a series of tweets, some of which I included below:
1) Congressional Democrats have a major problem with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and her ‘’confrontational” comments in Minnesota over the weekend.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
2) Fox is told that rank-and-file Democrats found what Waters said revolting. But that disgust among Democrats further metastasized after Hennepin, MN County Judge Peter Cahill criticized Waters from the bench, describing her remarks as “disrespectful to the rule of law.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
6) Some Democrats conceded privately they are not pleased with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saying that Waters shouldn’t apologize and nothing that she didn’t think Waters comments would spur violence.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
7) McCarthy now plans to introduce a resolution to censure Waters. Censure is one of the three formal modes of discipline in the House, wedged between reprimand and expulsion.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
12) It could be argued that an effort to punish a member with something as severe as censure should first be adjudicated by the Ethics Committee.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
13) But Fox is told that a lot of Democrats are angry at Waters, are concerned about the optics of potential violence being linked back to her and Democrats generally.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
14) Don’t forget how many moderate Democrats were beside themselves following the midterms and the “defund the police” movement.
With such a narrow majority, Democrats can only lose two votes on their side.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
15) Fox is told that some Democrats could in fact support what one lawmaker termed a “reasonably worded” censure resolution to rebuke Waters. Plus, voting to punish Waters may well be good politics for some battleground district Democrats.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
16) One knowledgeable Democrat told Fox that some Democratic members are so angry at Waters now that they would relish the opportunity to censure her.
So, McCarthy’s censure resolution may actually have legs. And, in a narrowly divided House, it may come down to “that math.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 20, 2021
McCarthy told Fox News Monday night that he believes there are between 10-15 House Democrats who would support a censure resolution against Waters:
“I know there are probably 10 to 15 who would love to vote [for censure]. It will all come down to the pressure of what Democrats will put on them to just try to vote to table it — not even to have the discussion,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on “Fox News Primetime” Monday night.
“And if they hold together, then they are going to own what not only Maxine Waters has been saying but what Tlaib and the others about removing police officers and others. This has gone on too far and for too long,” he added, referring to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who called for abolishing the police.
Though Pelosi has publicly expressed support for Waters, saying she shouldn’t have to apologize, behind the scenes she must be seething that between Waters’ “confrontational” comments and Tlaib’s on abolishing the police that two key issues (Democrat support for rioters and defunding the police) that got House Democrats in so much trouble in the election last year are rearing their ugly heads again.
As Pegram noted in his thread, there are a lot of variables involved in getting a censure resolution to the House floor. Will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming days and weeks as Republicans prepare to back Democrats up against a wall on the issue of “incitement.”
As they say, stay tuned…
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