Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) to apologize Monday after accusing the congresswoman of promoting violence against Elon Musk and Tesla. (Watch the video below.)
Bondi’s demand came a day after she warned Crockett to “tread very carefully.” Crockett has been encouraging peaceful protest against Musk and his electric car company as the multibillionaire carries out Trump’s goal of gutting the federal government and its workforce. Demonstrations have sprung up nationwide, and so have acts of vandalism.
On Monday, Fox News Host Sean Hannity avoided context when he mentioned Crockett’s remark that she wanted Musk “taken down.”
Crocket made the comment last week while promoting a peaceful protest movement called “Tesla Takedown.” She made it clear she was endorsing nonviolent demonstration, and instructed participants to adhere to local laws. She again emphasized her plea for nonviolent action on Sunday, but reminded Bondi that President Donald Trump supported violent protest by pardoning extreme Jan. 6 rioters.
Bondi noted that Crockett said she did not mean physical harm, but that didn’t stop the attorney general from continuing to label her comments as an incitement to violence.
“Words have consequences,” Bondi said. “And what happened after she said that about Elon Musk – she’s a Texan – and in her own home state after she said that, this morning three explosive devices were found in Austin, Texas,” she told Hannity, referring to incendiary devices found at a Tesla dealership there. “So she needs to unequivocally denounce the violence. She must apologize immediately not only to all Texans, but to our country, to the American shareholders of Tesla because she is promoting violence.”
Bondi also attempted to pull in recent remarks Crockett made about Democrat Colin Allred, who lost to Republican Ted Cruz for senator in Texas.
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Allred had started to punch harder at Cruz toward the end of the campaign, and Crockett commented that Cruz, needs “to be knocked over the head, like hard, right?” Some conservatives falsely jumped on the remark as a literal call to violence.
