Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, took a victory lap after House Democrats on Tuesday killed a GOP resolution to censure her, dismissing allegations that she sought to incite violence in Minnesota as a partisan attack.
“Of course, I’m criticized all the time, and of course, the Republicans make a target of me, but as you know, I am passionate on these issues,” Ms. Waters told MSNBC host Joy Reid.
Her comments came after two near-simultaneous events Tuesday: the jury’s guilty verdict on all charges in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis, and the 216-210 party-line vote in the House to table a censure resolution against her filed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Ms. Waters was criticized for traveling Saturday to join protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, about 10 miles from the courthouse, and call for them to “get more confrontational” and “stay on the streets” if the jury failed to return a murder conviction.
“They put me at the center because of my visit to Minneapolis, and my colleagues stood with me, and they voted to table the motion that was put up to censure me,” Ms. Waters said. “The Republicans love to use me as a target.”
Following the verdict in Minneapolis, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by @JoyAnnReid on @MSNBC. I’m feeling great and I’m sharing it with you. pic.twitter.com/EJVIoBoocw
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 21, 2021
SEE ALSO: Democrats reject Maxine Waters censure; Republicans stew
Mr. McCarthy said Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats “will have to go home and answer for their vote yesterday.”
“Every Democrat and Speaker Pelosi had the opportunity to condemn this violent rhetoric,” Mr. McCarthy said on “Fox & Friends.” “Instead, they condoned it, which only makes the House of Representatives and the Justice Department weaker.”
He pointed out that resolution quoted Hennepin County Court Judge Peter Cahill, who warned Monday that Ms. Waters’ widely reported appearance could form the basis of an appeal for Chauvin.
The former Minneapolis officer was found guilty of all murder and manslaughter charges in the May 25 death of George Floyd.
“She travels to a place not her district right before the jury is going to hear the final verdict, and what does she do? She brings violence,” Mr. McCarthy said. “The judge himself said it was abhorrent.”
Ms. Waters insisted she was “non-violent,” comparing her call to “get more confrontational” to the civil rights marches in the 1960s led by Martin Luther King Jr.
“Martin Luther King was about non-violence. I am non-violent,” Ms. Waters said. “And so when they take words like confrontation, which — certainly confrontation was used in the sit-ins for the civil rights legislation. The marches, the prayers, all of that’s confrontation.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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