Senate Democrats urge Virginia state Sen. Chase to resign over Trump rally, Antifa comments
(The Center Square) – Virginia Senate Democrats are calling for a Republican state senator to resign after she attended a pro-Trump rally in Washington and claimed members of left-wing Antifa were responsible for breaching the Capitol building.
Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Colonial Heights, attended the rally, in which President Donald Trump said the presidential election had been stolen from him because of fraud, but said she left the rally when some people turned to violence and broke into the Capitol. After the rally, Chase hailed rally goers as patriots and shared multiple Facebook posts alleging Antifa was responsible for Wednesday’s violence.
“These were not rioters and looters; these were Patriots who love their country and do not want to see our great republic turn into a socialist country,” Chase said on Facebook.
The senator shared several posts defending the protest, including one video, but condemned the violence that took place.
“While I do not support violence, I do understand why yesterday turned into chaos,” Chase said. “No matter who you are or what your position, we must strive to listen more and seek to understand.”
Although there is no indication Chase took part in any violence or entered the Capitol building, Senate Democrats have accused her of empowering the break-in with her comments.
“As we all watched in shock and disbelief at the insurrection in Washington, DC, Senator and gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase was horrifyingly empowering a failed coup d’état,” the Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
“She galvanized domestic terrorists who violated the United States Capitol on Wednesday afternoon through riots, destruction, and desecration, joining them on their march to Capitol Hill,” the statement said. “For someone who defends herself and the insurrectionists she calls ‘patriots’ with the Constitution, she either willfully or unwittingly doesn’t understand what her sworn oath to defend it actually means. She has unequivocally committed insurrection, and the Fourteenth Amendment to that same Constitution charges us with the responsibility of holding her accountable.”
Senate Democrats urged Chase to resign in the statement, saying she did not demonstrate good judgement for her constituents or the commonwealth.
Facebook suspended Chase’s account after flagging two of her posts regarding Antifa as spreading false information. Chase is a candidate for governor this year but has broken with party establishment on many issues, causing her to receive criticism from within her own party.
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