Missouri governor says this should happen if state senator won't resign over assassination comment

Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens says that the state Senate should remove Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal if she refuses to resign for writing in a now-deleted Facebook post that she hopes President Donald Trump gets "assassinated."

“Senator Chappelle-Nadal said she hopes the President is killed. Republicans and Democrats have called on her to resign. Her response: ‘Hell no.’ Last night, in an interview, she refused to apologize–twice. If she will not resign, the Senate can vote to remove her. I believe they should," Greitens wrote Friday in a series of tweets.

Senator Chappelle-Nadal said she hopes the President is killed. Republicans and Democrats have called on her to resign.

— Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) August 18, 2017

Her response: "Hell no." Last night, in an interview, she refused to apologize—twice.

— Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) August 18, 2017

If she will not resign, the Senate can vote to remove her. I believe they should.

— Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) August 18, 2017

The governor's call for Chappelle-Nadal's removal from office came after the St. Louis Democrat wrote in a Facebook comment Thursday that "I hope Trump is assassinated!" Chappelle-Nadal later deleted the comment.

“I put that up on my personal Facebook and I should not have,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “It was in response to the concerns that I am hearing from residents of St. Louis. I have deleted it, and it should have been deleted, but there is something way more important that we should be talking about," Chappelle-Nadal said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“I didn’t mean what I put up. Absolutely not. I was very frustrated,” Chappelle-Nadal said.

Missouri Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson, who is also president of the Missouri Senate, said that Chappelle-Nadal should resign but revealed what he's willing to do if she does not.

"Many Republicans and Democrats have asked for her resignation. For her to continue to serve as a Missouri state senator is totally unacceptable," Parson told KTVI-TV. "There are ways to remove her from office but I think she should take responsibility for her actions and resign.

"As the president of the Missouri Senate, I have the ability, the right to call on my fellow senators to expel her from the Missouri Senate; which I plan to do if she does not resign," Parson said.

In his remarks to KTVI, Parson cited Article III, Section 18 of the Missouri Constitution, which states that either the Missouri House of Representatives or the Missouri Senate "may punish its members for disorderly conduct; and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all members elect, may expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause," according to Ballotpedia.

Chappelle-Nadal posted the now-deleted Facebook comment just days after 32-year-old Heather Heyer died in a white supremacist terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia. Two Virginia state police officers also died in a helicopter crash while responding to the violence.

Trump faced criticism from both the left and the right for his response to the attack, after condemning "both sides."

But it's not just Republicans who want Chappelle-Nadal to resign. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Stephen Webber, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, have also called for her resignation.

"I condemn it. It's outrageous. And she should resign," McCaskill said, according to CNN.

Webber called the remarks "indefensible."

"All sides need to agree that there is no room for suggestions of political violence in America — and the Missouri Democratic Party will absolutely not tolerate calls for the assassination of the president. I believe she should resign," Webber said, CNN reported.

In a Thursday night tweet, however, Chappellle-Nadal gave no indication that she'll step down.

"I am not resigning. When [people of color] are respected by this WH & they are willing to do real work, I'll sit down with them. People are traumatized!" Chappelle-Nadal tweeted.

I am not resigning. When POC are respected by this WH & they are willing to do real work, I'll sit down with them. People are traumatized! https://t.co/rmsL4pQSTg

— MariaChappelleNadal (@MariaChappelleN) August 18, 2017

The St. Louis field office of the Secret Service said that it is investigating the Democratic state senator's comments.

(H/T: Daily Caller)