House Democrats are under pressure due to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and her “confrontational” comments in Minnesota on Saturday.
Fox News reported many Democrats are upset with Waters and “are concerned about the optics of potential violence being linked back to her and Democrats generally.”
Reports also indicate some Democrats might support House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s “reasonably worded” censure to correct Waters’ comments to mitigate poor political optics Waters created in some Democrat battleground districts.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed her caucus member, saying Waters need not apologize for her misstep. Pelosi, however, “cannot stop McCarthy’s resolution censuring Waters from receiving a vote, because it is a privileged resolution,” Breitbart News’ Matt Boyle reported.
McCarthy’s censure, perhaps backed by House Democrats, would have a long-lasting impact on the caucus, who have a narrow majority and can only lose two votes.
The possibility of a bipartisan censure of Waters comes as Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the Derek Chauvin trial in Hennepin County, Minnesota, said Monday he hoped “elected officials would stop talking about this case.”
“I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” he said.
Adding to the heat, Breitbart News reported Monday Republican members of Congress from Minnesota called for an investigation and censure of Waters for her “inflammatory rhetoric.”
Strategically, Democrats will need to choose between voting for the censure or tabling the resolution, perhaps referring it to the House Ethics Committee. The last time a member was censured was 2010.