Waters' comments on Chauvin trial pour fuel on the fire -- and expose Republican hypocrisy

Incendiary warnings by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters about the potential outcome of the trial of the ex-police officer charged with killing George Floyd could spike tensions, were legally unwise and raise questions of Democratic double standards.

But they also drew out the hypocrisy of pro-Donald Trump Republicans over incitement to violence and ought not to overshadow the profound issues of race and justice raised by a harrowing four weeks in court.

Waters' inflammatory remarks in Minnesota on Saturday justifiably caused an uproar as they came at a hyper-sensitive moment of one of the most racially sensitive and emotionally wrenching trials in years, with US cities on edge as jurors begin deliberations.

Indeed, Republicans argue that her call on protesters to "get more confrontational" if they don't like the verdict would have resulted in swift punishment from leadership in Congress if they were uttered by a Republican. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California will likely try to force a House vote on a resolution to censure Waters on Wednesday, but Democrats will likely move to table it, House aides familiar with the matter tell CNN's Manu Raju.

Michigan GOP Rep. Lisa McClain complained on the House floor that if Waters were a member of the GOP she would have already stripped of her committee assignments.
"Are they not the words someone would use if they wanted to incite more violence?" McClain asked.

That the presiding judge in the trial warned that the Waters comments might have given the defense of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin an opening during any eventual appeal against conviction raise the level of seriousness even more.