House Democratic leaders defended embattled Rep. Maxine Waters for a second day following her command to protesters near Minneapolis to “get more confrontational” if ex-police officer Derek Chauvin is found not guilty in the death of George Floyd.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House should reject a GOP move to censure Waters for her comments.
“It’s a totally phony effort to distract from what the Republicans know has been the rhetoric of so many of their members, which has aided and abetted and condoned violent activity,” the Maryland Democrat said Tuesday.
CHAUVIN JUDGE SAYS MAXINE WATERS’S COMMENTS COULD LEAD TO OVERTURNING OF TRIAL ON APPEAL
Hoyer defended Waters telling protesters to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational.”
The judge in the Chauvin trial condemned the comments on Monday, but Hoyer said they were innocuous.
“To confront is to come face to face with what you need to, ah, face or to deal with, and that is what she said,” Hoyer said when a reporter asked how Democratic leaders planned to respond to Waters. “It does not imply violence.”
Hoyer said even if the term “may well imply an aggressive confrontation,” the GOP was in no position to criticize.
Hoyer joined other Democrats this week in flipping the narrative away from Waters, who is chairwoman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. Democrats accused the GOP of tolerating violent rhetoric within their own party.
They pointed to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by throngs of violent protesters in support of then-President Donald Trump. Democrats also say the GOP should focus on Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other lawmakers who have used rhetoric that could be deemed to incite violence.
Democrats voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments recently in response to social media comments she posted prior to her election to Congress.
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said he plans this week to introduce a motion to censure Waters over her comments. Hoyer said the House should reject the censure motion, and given the Democratic majority, it is likely to be tabled.
Earlier Tuesday, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries said McCarthy should focus on trouble within the GOP conference, including sex trafficking allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. Gaetz denies the allegations.
“Clean up your mess, Kevin,” Jeffries said. “Sit this one out. You’ve got no credibility here. We support peaceful protests.”
