"I think some borders are illegal": Steve Scalise condemns protests after Waters comments

House Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) Severely criticized Wednesday the actions of protesters who have directly clashed with Trump administration officials in recent days, claiming that some of their behaviors "are illegal" .

The House Republican number 3 made his remarks in a one-on-one conversation with James Hohmann of the Washington Post at a Daily 202 Live event. His reprimand arises amid a growing feud over the call of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) At a rally in Los Angeles on Saturday for protesters to confront officials of the United States. administration wherever they go.

"I do not think there is room for this kind of incivility to incite harbadment or violence of any kind. I mean, I've got it. seen first-hand, "said Scalise, who was seriously injured last year after being shot at a congressional baseball practice.

He continued: "I have seen the video of some of these incidents.It is beyond the offensive.I think some of them are illegal, when you see what some of these people are doing, that they are putting something in front of someone, trying to provoke them into a violent act.That is not what our democracy is talking about. "

Waters maintained that it encouraged peaceful demonstrations and did not call the protesters to harm anyone. At the rally, she told her followers, "If you see someone from this cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, in a gas station, you go out and you create a crowd, and you push them back on them!

Yet the quarrel over his comments – as well as the explosive confrontations at times between protesters and Republican officials during the "zero tolerance" immigration policy of the administration – has raged.

Last week, protesters demonstrated outside the home of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and arrested her while she was dining at a Mexican restaurant. Protesters also gathered Monday at the apartment complex where Stephen Miller, White House political advisor, lives.

And a video that circulated widely on Tuesday shows Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Confronted with protesters at Georgetown University on the issue of transportation. ;immigration.

The Congressional Black Caucus has rallied behind Waters in recent days, while some Republicans are demanding his resignation.

In a statement released Tuesday, CBC President Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.) Issued a statement defending the 14-year-old legislator as someone who has "defended justice all his life." He also rejected statements by President Trump and others who threw Waters' remarks at a Los Angeles rally Saturday as inciting violence.

"By exercising her constitutional right to freedom of speech at a recent rally, MP Waters has not, as she has made it clear, encouraged violence, as does President Trump. since the elections, "said Richmond.

"It has instead encouraged Americans to exercise their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and peaceful badembly by informing President Trump and members of his administration that separating young immigrant children from their parents is not what we are as a country ".

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson, who is also a member of the CBC, sent different versions of a tweet more than 90 times Wednesday morning, defend the waters and urge other lawmakers to do the same.

"Too few members of Congress have the courage to speak like @RepMaxineWaters," writes Wilson in one of the tweets. "She's not afraid to challenge White House policies that hurt people and dishonor our values, history will judge us on our silence, silence is a complicity, and I applaud." StandWithMaxine. "

Trump and Republican lawmakers sought to capitalize on remarks against the Democrats, sparking a conversation about the civil discourse that threatened to overshadow last week's debate over the country's immigration policy. administration and separation of migrant children from their parents.

In a tweet Monday, the president said that Waters had "just called for harm" to his supporters and warned him to "pay attention to what you want." He has since kept his attention on Waters and another veteran Democratic legislator. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (California).

"Congratulations to Maxine Waters, whose crazy crazies have made her, along with Nancy Pelosi, the unbalanced FACE of the Democratic Party.All together, they will make America even weaker!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning. "But do not be afraid, America is now stronger than ever, and I'm not going anywhere!" The Trump campaign also made mention of Waters Tuesday in a fundraising e-mail to supporters under the topic "Harbadment".

Other Republicans have also focused on the waters in recent days.

Earlier this week, Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) Presented a move to the House seeking censorship and condemnation of the legislator. In a statement, he mentioned Scalise's shooting and warned "we are returning to the vitriol of this day".

The Republican National Committee also joined with a video grabbing on the flap of waters. Against a backdrop of bleak background music, the clip features images of a flaming limousine in Washington on Trump's inauguration day as well as inflamed commentary by celebrities, including Madonna's commentary to the Women & # 39. March of last year. Explode the White House, "and a comment from actor Johnny Depp on the badbadination of the president.

"Maxine Waters' threats are just the last example of the left wing that has become completely unbalanced and must stop," writes the RNC on its Twitter account.

Democrats, meanwhile, have been divided in their response to the question. While some have vigorously defended Waters, others, including Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.), have issued reproaches for Waters' remarks without mentioning the name of the legislator.

In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Acknowledged that "people have the right to be angry," but advised that rather than protesting aggressively against public servants, they should "organize locally and get involved in the political process."

"I think people have the right to go to a restaurant and have dinner," Sanders said. "We should mobilize our people in a way that creates the kind of movement we need to create a government here in Washington that represents each of us, not just the 1%. place our energy. "