The lieutenant governor of Missouri has asked the state senator who threatened President Donald Trump on Facebook to resign from her post by Sept. 14 or be expelled from the state Senate.
Missouri Democratic State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal wrote on Facebook that she hopes “Trump is assassinated.”
Lt. Gov. Mike Parson called on Chappelle-Nadal to resign almost immediately after she posted the threat on Facebook. She refused to resign, sending a Twitter message with a photo of a man flashing an ISIS terrorist group hand sign while posing for a photo with her.
Now Parson, a former sheriff who is also the president of Missouri’s state Senate, has issued a more damning statement, pointing to a section of the state constitution that lists penalties for lawmakers for “contempt and disorderly conduct.”
“The senator needs to resign, or we will make the decision for her,” Parson wrote on Twitter.
“About 30 seconds after she made the comment, I issued a request for her resignation. She does not deserve to be an elected official in the state that I love–Missouri. She doesn’t deserve to be anywhere in this country,” Parson told Fox News.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens joined Parson’s call.
“If she will not resign, the Senate can vote to remove her. I believe they should,” Greitens said in a statement.
Sept. 14 is the date of the upcoming veto session in the Missouri Senate, when a motion to expel can proceed.
The Secret Service told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it was looking in to the comments made by the state senator.
Chappelle-Nadal received a number of racist slurs and threats after her comments were widely reported on in the media.
Missouri Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and state Sen. Gina Walsh both condemned Chappelle-Nadal’s threats.
“I strongly condemn and disavow Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal’s horrible comments. Promoting, supporting, or suggesting violence against anyone, especially elected leaders, is never acceptable,” Walsh said in a statement.
“It’s outrageous and she should resign,” said Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay.
Nadal said that she will not resign despite the mounting pressure.
Several people who have insinuated threats to the president have met with backlash.
On June 15, police arrested and charged an Illinois man who posted threats against the president on social media. Joseph Lynn Pickett posted profanity-filled and detailed threats on Facebook, which were seen by his co-workers at Lowes. The co-workers reported Pickett to the Secret Service.
Also this summer, Delta Airlines and Bank of America dropped their sponsorships of New York Public Theater after it stood by its production of “Julius Caesar,” which featured an on-stage assassination of a President Trump look-a-like.
Meanwhile, comedian Kathy Griffin lost her only sponsor, her New Year’s CNN gig, and had all of the upcoming performances on her tour canceled after posting a photograph of herself holding a mock bloodied and severed head of Trump.
From NTD.tv
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