JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Senate this week managed the votes to censure the embattled Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal while falling short of reaching the required numbers to call themselves into session in an attempt to expel her.
Senate censures Chappelle-Nadal, but leaves door open for later expulsion
But the words of her fellow senators during Wednesday’s veto session expressed the level of seriousness felt about her words regarding her hopes of President Donald Trump’s assassination.
Perhaps no senator expressed those sentiments as well as Senator Denny Hoskins, who delivered a short speech on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, discussing the standards expected of each member in the body.
Here’s a transcription of his speech, as well as an audio recording.
“Today we’re here to talk about conduct unbecoming of a state senator. We as elected officials have a higher standard that we have set for ourselves, especially when we’re in the public eye. We have over 175,000 constituents that we represent and we must dot he best job that we can in order to represent them and not lose sight of values.
Mr. President, mistakes were made, but actions do have consequences. Obviously, I have made mistakes in my life as well. I disagreed with many of President Obama’s policies, and if we would have had a President Hillary Clinton, I would have disagreed with many of her policies as well, but I would never have called for their assassination.
What if the senator from St. Louis County, District 14 had called for my assassination because I had voted a particular way on a bill? What if a senator had called for the assassination of my wife? What if a senator called for the assassination of my children? What if a state senator had called for the assassination of their opponent in an election? Would that be right? Again, Mr. President, I think that we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.
I supported expulsion and I signed this resolution in order to bring us into special session to discuss expulsion for the senator and disciplinary actions for the senator from St. Louis County. Unfortunately, it appears that we do not have the required 26 bipartisan votes to go into special session.
The response from my constituency has been overwhelming. Whether I’m at church, whether I’m at a high school football game, putting gas in my car, or at the grocery store, they have overwhelmingly asked me what I am doing about the state senator from St. Louis County that called for the assassination of President Trump.
Therefore, I stand here today on behalf of my 175,000+ constituents and respectfully ask the senator from St. Louis County to resign from her position as state senator for her actions.”
Sen. Bill Eigel also rose to question Sen. Chappelle-Nadal about why she hadn’t answered the call to resign and cautioned her against any further actions of a nature that could require further discipline. Here’s a clip of their exchange.
But Sen. Mike Kehoe was the one to deliver the motion, giving an equally impressive account of why the censure was needed.
“At a time in our country where there are some rough spots that we’ve experienced, hatred on either side of the debate is not welcome in policy discussions,” Kehoe stated while introducing the resolution. “I would ask my colleagues to consider this resolution and adopt it as it has presented.”
Here’s a clip of his motion, as well as his inquiry of Sen. President Pro Tem Ron Richard, who broke protocol and used Sen. Chappelle Nadal’s name on the floor.
