Top Democrats Distance Themselves from Maxine Waters’ Calls to ‘Push Back’ Against Trump Administration Staffers

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill are disavowing Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) call to tell Trump administration cabinet members they are “not welcome.”

At a weekend rally, Waters told her supporters to “get out and…create a crowd” if they saw a member of the Trump administration in a public setting: “If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

Waters’ comments came in response a tweet from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders after the management at the Red Hen, a rural Virginia restaurant, asked her to leave the establishment. The owner maintains that she did so out of concern for her staff.

“In the crucial months ahead, we must strive to make America beautiful again,” tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Monday morning. Pelosi’s tweet included a link to Waters’ comments.

In the crucial months ahead, we must strive to make America beautiful again. Trump’s daily lack of civility has provoked responses that are predictable but unacceptable. As we go forward, we must conduct elections in a way that achieves unity from sea to shining sea. https://t.co/vlpqOBLK4R

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 25, 2018

Hours later, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered his own criticism from the Senate floor, saying, “I strongly disagree with those who advocate harassing folks if they don’t agree with you.” Schumer offered alternative ways to share disagreement, which included engaging in civil discourse and voting.

“No one should call for the harassment of political opponents,” he added. “That’s not right. That’s not American.”

During a Monday press briefing, Sanders responded, saying that “calls for harassment and push[es] for any Trump supporter to avoid the public [are] unacceptable,” citing comments by “a member of Congress.”

“We are allowed to disagree, but we should be able to do so freely and without fear of harm, and this goes for all people, regardless of politics,” Sanders said.