Today News: Pressure mounts for state senator to resign after Trump assassination comment

In this Sept. 10, 2014, file photo, Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal speaks on the Senate floor in Jefferson City, Mo. (Photo: AP)

After Democratic State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal said that she hoped President Trump was assassinated, many Missouri politicians, including Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, are calling for her removal from the legislature.

In a Facebook comment that has since been deleted, Chappelle-Nadal wrote, "I hope Trump is assassinated."

The state legislator was replying to responses to an original statement she posted, expressing her hate for and frustration with Trump. "He’s causing trauma and nightmares. That was my original post," she told the Kansas City Star.

The Secret Service in St. Louis said they were investigating the matter, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Greitens and his Lt. Governor Mike Parson have both called on the state legislature to vote to remove Chappelle-Nadal.

Parson said has Chappelle-Nadal until a Sept. 15 veto session to resign,FOX2 St. Louis reported. After that, he said he would use executive authority "pursuant to Article III, Section 18 of the Missouri Constitution" to call for the senate to vote.

According to the Associated Press, a two-thirds vote of the elected members of a chamber can remove a lawmaker in Missouri.

Many other Missouri politicians have joined Greitens and Parson in calling for Chappelle-Nadal resignation.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said, "It's outrageous. And she should resign," in a statement, and U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., also condemned the comment.

State Senate Democratic leader Gina Walsh called the comment "horrible."

"There is too much rancor and hate in today's political discourse, and Sen. Chappelle-Nadal should be ashamed of herself for adding her voice to this toxic environment," she wrote in a statement.

Chappelle-Nadal said her comments "could have been reframed," but was adamant on social media that she was not resigning.

Chappelle-Nadal told the told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her comments came out of frustration for Trump's response to the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.

"What I said was wrong, but I am not going to stop talking about what led to that, which is the frustration and anger that many people across America are feeling right now," she added.

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Pressure mounts for state senator to resign after Trump assassination comment

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