Anger over Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s decision to
shelve universal health care legislation in California has boiled into aggressive protests and even violent rhetoric against the Democratic leader. Rendon said Wednesday that he and his family have experienced “distressing” death threats since announcing late last Friday that the “
woefully incomplete” Senate Bill 562 would not move forward this year.
“The threats that I’ve received are threats that, unfortunately, seem to be sort of a standard part of American politics these days,” he said of the messages, which have primarily come through social media. One
tweet prays that “someone checks his schedule for baseball practice,” a possible reference to the
shooting of Republican congressmen and aides at a baseball field in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.
Rendon said the animosity toward him is “misdirected” and should be focused on stopping the Republican health care bill in Congress that is
projected to strip millions of their insurance coverage. He blamed proponents of SB 562 for hyping up legitimate anxieties over what is happening at the federal level while pushing a proposal in California that is lacking basic details, like how to pay for the estimated
$400 billion price tag.
“I’m concerned about the fear that exists out there,”’ Rendon said. “What’s really bothersome for me is to read some of the threads and some of the comments from people who really believe that this bill would have actually provided services. What’s disappointing is that those folks seem to have been sold a bill of goods.”
Earlier Wednesday, dozens of protesters crowded outside Rendon’s Capitol office, carrying signs that proclaimed “Inaction Equals Death” and chanting “Rendon, Rendon, shame on you. Action now on 562.” One demonstrator carrying a fake knife with “Rendon” written on it pretended to stab another, dressed as a bear, in the back.
