Former George W. Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd said Monday on CNN’s “New Day” that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was correct in saying to be more confrontational, but he added that “doesn’t mean we should be more violent.”
When asked what should happen if the jury does not deliver a guilty verdict in the case of Derek Chauvin, Waters said, “We’ve got to stay active, get more active, more confrontational, make sure that they know we mean business.”
Anchor Brianna Keilar said. “Certainly, Waters should answer for her words when everyone is on edge. But the irony here is just the stench of it. Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, who has repeatedly given cover to other Republicans who have called in such explicit terms for violence. I’m thinking Marjorie Taylor Greene. I’m thinking Donald Trump. The irony here is thick.”
Dowd said, “It’s incredibly thick, and so is the hypocrisy on this, not the least to mention January 6th and what happened on January 6th and the number of Republicans that their words incited that. I actually just listened to Maxine Waters. Of course, we all have to be cognizant of what we say. I don’t think what she said in any way should. We should criticize her for. Of course, we should be more confrontational. That doesn’t mean we should be more violent.”
He added, “But I was thinking about this as I was listening, is Emmett Till was killed in 1955, an all-white jury found the people that did it innocent. Then Medgar Evers, Jimmie Lee Jackson, so many of these folks that were guilty of killings and civil rights were then let off. And the only thing that led to the civil rights legislation to finally pass in 1965 was non-violent protests, and so I think that’s where we’re going to end up today. The Republicans seem to me on the complete wrong side of history on this.”
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