Virginia Senate Democrats filed a resolution on Wednesday to censure GOP gubernatorial candidate and Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) for addressing a crowd and urging action to overturn the 2020 presidential election hours before the Capitol riots in Washington D.C.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. John Bell (D-Loudoun) and co-sponsored by nine other Senate Democrats, formally accuses Chase of “fomenting insurrection against the United States.”
The document also cites Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which says that no person shall “hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath . . . as a member of any State legislature . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
In a written comment responding to the resolution that Chase provided to The Virginia Star, she called out the hypocrisy of her Democratic colleagues and claimed that some participated in the protests over social inequality this past summer.
“I’m the front runner for Governor and am positioned to beat anyone that is put against me; they know that,” Chase wrote. “This is merely a political stunt by the Democratic Party who took the guardrails off of our Presidential Election to create an opportunity for them to steal this year’s presidential election.”
According to the resolution, it will take a majority vote on the floor for the censure to be approved by the Senate. For the time being, the resolution has been referred to the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections and is waiting to be considered.
Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), a co-sponsor of the resolution, said in an interview with The Star that as far as he was concerned, Chase had both instigated and committed treason against the country.
When asked about the vote, Ebbin also said he expected the resolution to pass.
The vast majority of Democratic senators will in all likelihood vote for Chase to be censored, especially considering the number of co-sponsors on the resolution, but it is currently unclear how many Republicans will support the measure.
Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Rockingham) told The Star that he would not be voting for the resolution and did not think it was a necessary action to take, even though he holds a negative opinion toward and has fundamental differences with Chase.
“It sounds to me as if it is a resolution to censure speech,” Obenshain said. “Some of that speech may be repulsive to some people [and] it may be objectionable to some people, but I don’t believe that it’s appropriate to censure or expel a member of a body for exercising their speech rights.”
The Star reached out to several other Republican and Democratic senators for comment on the resolution, but did not get responses before press time.
Since appearing in D.C. last Wednesday and in the subsequent aftermath of the Capitol riots, Chase has experienced backlash from multiple fronts.
Last Friday, Facebook banned Chase from posting on her public page, which has more than 135,000 followers, for 30 days while also banning her from posting live videos or advertising for 60 days. Furthermore, on the same day, the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus released a statement calling for Chase to resign, saying the Senator was “empowering a failed coup d’état.”
– – –
Jacob Taylor is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Follow Jacob on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Adam P. Ebbin” by EbbinForVirginia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Matheus Gonçalves CC BY-SA 2.0.
