State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, says he does not believe state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, will be on the job much longer. She posted on Facebook last month and then deleted a comment saying she hopes President Trump is assassinated.
“I fully expect that at some point she will resign,” says Kendrick. “I believe that the pressure will just become too great.”
Chappelle-Nadal has apologized for the comment but says she will not step down. Several state and federal lawmakers from Missouri, including from her own party, have called on her to resign.
Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson, R, has given Chappelle-Nadal until September thirteenth’s veto session to resign or face a Senate vote to remove her from office. The Missouri Attorney General’s office says Parson’s call to have her expelled fully applies with Article III of the Missouri Constitution.
Whether the Senate has the votes to remove her from office is also unknown. Two-thirds of Missouri’s Senators would have to vote in favor of removing her from office.
“Actions have consequences and when you’re an elected official and you are held to a higher standard, those actions have more serious consequences,” says Kendrick.
Kendrick says she could lose her state pension if Senators vote to expel her.
Republican State Rep. Warren Love is also under fire for saying on Facebook that Confederate monument vandals should be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope”. Some Republicans and Democrats say he deserves the same punishment as Chappelle-Nadal does.
Brad Tregnago of KSSZ contributed to this story.
