HLN anchor isn't about to accept apology of Missouri state senator who hoped for Trump assassination

HLN anchor Carol Costello tore into the Missouri state senator who said last week that she hoped for the assassination of President Donald Trump.

Costello, in the debut of her new show "Across America," laid into Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat from St. Louis, for posting a now-deleted comment from her personal Facebook page last week that said, "I hope Trump is assassinated!"

Chappelle-Nadal later said she regretted the comment during an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“I put that up on my personal Facebook, and I should not have. 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," she said.

Chappelle-Nadal apologized Sunday amid bipartisan calls for her to either resign or face expulsion from the state Senate.

According to the Missouri state Constitution, lawmakers “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."

Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Parson (R), who is also president of the state Senate, said he plans to do just that if Chappelle-Nadal doesn't step down.

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Stephen Webber, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, also joined in calls for Chappelle-Nadal to resign. Despite bipartisan calls for her to go, however, Chappelle-Nadal vowed Sunday to stay put.

“President Trump, I apologize to you and your family. I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to it. And I’m not ever going to make a mistake like that again. I have learned my lesson. My judge and my jury is my Lord, Jesus Christ," Chappelle-Nadal said during a news conference.

Costello, in her "Final Thought" at the end of her show on Monday, joined the chorus of voices calling for Chappelle-Nadal's resignation.

"It is better than the tepid apology she offered last week," Costello said. "But it's not good enough. Let's be honest here. Maria Chappelle-Nadal should step down and she should do it now. Seriously.

"This is a lawmaker who took to the streets to protest police brutality a few years back. She came down hard on police for their actions in Ferguson and accused fellow lawmakers of white privilege if they dared introduce legislation without her input," Costello reminded viewers.

"You can't have it both ways. Responsible behavior applies to you, too," Costello said to the Democratic lawmaker.

The HLN anchor ended the segment by telling viewers that Chappelle-Nadal's "message about a presidential assassination has no place anywhere."

"So, Ms. Chappelle-Nadal, please do us a favor. Step down," Costello said.

@CarolHLN @mosesbread72 @cthagod Sounds like a slave owner's wife right before the owner beats the slave. wow , so telling. Not fox either pic.twitter.com/yfrscLR2nb

— HyphyHendrix (@JuanHendrix666) August 21, 2017

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime

Chappelle-Nadal's assassination comment wasn't just a slip of the tongue. It took a conscious effort to type the comment on her personal Facebook account. The pathetic excuse that she was "angry" when she made the remark because of the ill-advised way that Trump handled the Charlottesville white supremacist terror attack is, quite frankly, a cop-out.

Chappelle-Nadal has every right to be angry at Trump's response to Charlottesville. Indeed, plenty of pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle were furious with how the president handled the situation, with some even questioning his ability to lead.

But suggesting that Trump doesn't have the ability to lead a country is obviously different from suggesting that he should no longer live.

By Chappelle-Nadal expressing "hope" that Trump would be assassinated doesn't do a thing to add to the former argument. Instead, the statement only leads others on both sides of the aisle to seriously doubt Chappelle-Nadal's ability to represent her constituents.