Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is blasting Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) for saying protesters need to stay in the streets if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is not convicted of murdering George Floyd.
During a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell said, “It’s harder to imagine anything more inappropriate than a member of Congress flying in from California to inform local leaders, not so subtly, that this defendant had better be found guilty or else there will be big trouble in the streets.”
“Again, so much of nation’s quest for civil rights and equal justice has been the fight to get rid…of extra-judicial violence, to get rid of rigged trials,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell uses his floor speech today to go after Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) after she told protesters in Minnesota to "stay in the street" and become "more confrontational":
— The Recount (@therecount) April 19, 2021
“It’s hard to imagine anything more inappropriate …” pic.twitter.com/syadcXtj9Y
Waters attended a police brutality protest in Minnesota on Saturday where she said, “We’re looking for a guilty verdict. And we’re looking to see if all of the talk 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 streets, but we’ve got to fight for justice.”
When asked what protesters should do if Chauvin is not convicted of murdering Floyd, Waters said, “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’ comment sparked outrage among Republicans who accused her of inciting violence and threatening the jury.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on Twitter that she planned to introduce a resolution to expel Waters from Congress for her “continual incitement of violence on innocent American people.” And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “doesn’t act against this dangerous rhetoric, I will bring action this week.”
However, Pelosi defended Waters and said she should not apologize, “Maxine talked about confrontation in the manner of the Civil Rights movement. I myself think we should take our lead from the George Floyd family. They’ve handled this with great dignity and no ambiguity or lack of misinterpretation by the other side.”
“No, no, I don’t think she should apologize,” she added.
Waters also defended herself against claims that she was inciting violence. She told The Grio, “Republicans will jump on any word, any line and try to make it fit their message and their cause for denouncing us and denying us, basically calling us violent … any time they see an opportunity to seize on a word.
“So they do it, and they send a message to all of the white supremacists, the KKK, the Oath Keepers, the [Proud] Boys and all of that, how this is a time for [Republicans] to raise money on [Democrats] backs,” she added.
