House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is adamant that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) should not apologize for saying protesters should “get more confrontational” if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is not found guilty of murdering George Floyd.
The speaker was asked by CNN’s Annie Grayer on Monday if Waters should apologize for her remarks. She said, “Absolutely not.”
“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,” she continued.
Finally, she reiterated, “No, no, I don’t think she should apologize.”
Pelosi tells @AnnieGrayerCNN that Waters should NOT apologize for saying protestors should “get more confrontational” if Chauvin is acquitted. “No she doesn’t,” she said when asked if Waters should apologize. “Absolutely not,” she said when asked if her comments incited violence
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 19, 2021
“No, no, I don’t think she should apologize.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 19, 2021
Waters attended a police brutality protest in Minnesota over the weekend where she said if Chauvin is acquitted, “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.”
Those comments sparked claims among Republicans that she was inciting violence, as IJR reported.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tweeted on Monday if Pelosi “doesn’t act against this dangerous rhetoric, I will bring action this week.”
Waters smacked down claims she was inciting violence during an interview with The Grio where she said, “I am nonviolent.”
“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,” she continued.
Finally, she claimed, “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.”