Tintalieau
.40 S&W
A Missouri state senator says she has no plans to resign ― despite loud calls from within her own party to do so ― after she said she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal made the comment on her Facebook page Thursday morning in response to a thread she’d started out of frustration over the white supremacist violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I hope Trump is assassinated!” she wrote on her page, which is not open to the public. While she deleted the post soon after, a screenshot of it nevertheless quickly gained traction, earning rebukes from across the political spectrum.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) issued a straightforward statement: “I condemn it. It’s outrageous. And she should resign.”
That sentiment was echoed by Stephen Webber, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party.
“State Sen. Chappelle-Nadal’s comments are indefensible,” Webber said. “All sides need to agree that there is no room for suggestions of political violence in America — and the Missouri Democratic Party will absolutely not tolerate calls for the assassination of the president. I believe she should resign.”
Despite the condemnations, Chappelle-Nadal said she has no plans to step down.
“Out of my anger and frustration, I put up a post that I should not have put up,” Chappelle-Nadal conceded in a statement to Kansas City Public Radio. “That was inappropriate for me to do so.”
She was less conciliatory, however, in a conversation with CBS St. Louis.
“There is no way in hell that I’m resigning,” she said. “There are legislators who have cheated on their wives, they have smoked in the Legislature, in the state Capitol. If they have not been asked to resign for those acts, which I do believe that cheating on your wife or your spouse is immoral, I am not resigning for a mistake that I made and that I’m owning up to.”
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it is investigating the post as a possible threat.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal made the comment on her Facebook page Thursday morning in response to a thread she’d started out of frustration over the white supremacist violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I hope Trump is assassinated!” she wrote on her page, which is not open to the public. While she deleted the post soon after, a screenshot of it nevertheless quickly gained traction, earning rebukes from across the political spectrum.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) issued a straightforward statement: “I condemn it. It’s outrageous. And she should resign.”
That sentiment was echoed by Stephen Webber, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party.
“State Sen. Chappelle-Nadal’s comments are indefensible,” Webber said. “All sides need to agree that there is no room for suggestions of political violence in America — and the Missouri Democratic Party will absolutely not tolerate calls for the assassination of the president. I believe she should resign.”
Despite the condemnations, Chappelle-Nadal said she has no plans to step down.
“Out of my anger and frustration, I put up a post that I should not have put up,” Chappelle-Nadal conceded in a statement to Kansas City Public Radio. “That was inappropriate for me to do so.”
She was less conciliatory, however, in a conversation with CBS St. Louis.
“There is no way in hell that I’m resigning,” she said. “There are legislators who have cheated on their wives, they have smoked in the Legislature, in the state Capitol. If they have not been asked to resign for those acts, which I do believe that cheating on your wife or your spouse is immoral, I am not resigning for a mistake that I made and that I’m owning up to.”
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it is investigating the post as a possible threat.
