House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Rep. Maxine Waters should apologize for calling on people to harass Trump administration officials in public.
“There’s no place for this,” said Ryan, R-Wis. “She obviously should apologize.”
Waters, D-Calif., told a crowd of supporters at an immigration rally Saturday that Trump administration officials should have no peace and no sleep.
“If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said at the rally. “You push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the majority whip, was shot one year ago by a Bernie Sanders supporter who targeted GOP lawmakers practicing at a baseball field. Scalise suffered grievous injuries and is not fully recovered. He relies on forearm crutches to walk, and he also warned Tuesday that Waters’ comments are inappropriate.
[Also read: Democrat opposes Maxine Waters, but says Trump started it]
“I know firsthand, we’ve got to be real careful about how we discuss our differences,” Scalise said. “Nobody should be inciting harassment or violence of any sort just because we disagree with each other on issues.”
Democratic leaders have distanced themselves from Waters’ comments, and she said at a hastily convened press conference Monday she never called for violence. She blamed Trump for the charged atmosphere.
Ryan took a much harder stance and repeatedly demanded Waters apologize.
“When we in this democracy are suggesting that because we disagree on political views, on policy views, philosophical views, that we should resort to violence and harassment and intimidation, that’s dangerous for our society,” Ryan said. “That’s dangerous for our democracy.”
