Maxine Waters has spoken out amid fears she's jeopardized the Derek Chauvin murder trial.
Judge Peter Cahill warned that comments she made could overturn the entire court case.
However, she has since responded by denying the claims, telling the New York Post: "The judge says my words don't matter."
During an interview with theGrio, Waters addressed the comments she made in more detail, claiming that Republicans had distorted her words.
Listen to Waters make the comments in the video below:She said: "I am nonviolent. Republicans will jump on any word, any line and try to make it fit their message and their cause for denouncing us and denying us, basically calling us violent.
"Any time they see an opportunity to seize on a word, so they do it and they send a message to all of the white supremacists, the KKK, the Oath Keepers, the [Proud] Boys and all of that, how this is a time for [Republicans] to raise money on [Democrats] backs."
Addressing her use of the word "confrontational", Waters added: "I talk about confronting the justice system, confronting the policing that’s going on, I’m talking about speaking up. I’m talking about legislation. I’m talking about elected officials doing what needs to be done to control their budgets and to pass legislation."
Waters came under fire after making a speech on Saturday, April 17, to a crowd of activists in Minneapolis protesting the recent police shooting of Daunte Wright by Brooklyn Center policewoman Kim Potter.
In her fiery diatribe, Waters stated that she hoped Chauvin was convicted of murder, adding: "We gotta stay on the street.
"We've got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational, we've got to make sure that they know that we mean business."
Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, argued that Water's comments could be interpreted as intimidating for the jury, arguing that she was "threatening acts of violence in relation to this specific case."
He explained that the coverage of the trial has been so extensive that it will be impossible for the jury not to be "tainted" by it.
Judge Peter Cahill denied the motion for a mistrial and said: "I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned."
The politicians who have publicly commented on Floyd's death were slammed by the judge for doing so in an "abhorrent" and "disrespectful" way.
"I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function," he said.
He asked politicians to "respect their coequal branch of government" and said it was "abhorrent" that some had failed to do so.
Judge Cahill said that he does not believe that the jury has, as yet, been prejudiced in the trial.
"They have been told not to watch the news, I trust they have been following those instructions," he said. "A congresswoman's opinion really doesn't matter a whole lot," he said.
The Associated Press has reported that Chauvin, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
In order to find him guilty, the jury must conclude that his use of force was unreasonable and a "substantial causal factor" in Floyd's death last year.
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