It’s both sad and telling that the Democrats’ top two leaders in Congress, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, found it necessary to publicly instruct their members not to encourage mob harassment of their political foes.

Though they couldn’t bring themselves to mention her by name, their words clearly were aimed at Rep. Maxine Waters, who last weekend called on followers to “absolutely harass” Team Trump officials.

Schumer denounced such calls as “not American,” and good for him. Pelosi was more restrained, calling them “understandable but unacceptable.”

But is anyone listening? Both leaders found themselves under fire on social media. Waters herself, bolstered by considerable media support, claimed she “did not call for harm for anybody.”

It’s clear where such incitement can lead: Forget the restaurant bootings of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders; last year, an anti-Trump lunatic fired his rifle at Republicans at a baseball practice, nearly killing Rep. Steve Scalise.

This week, Scalise himself came under appalling social-media fire when he criticized Waters, with many tweeting their sorrow that he’d survived the attack.

We suspect Schumer and Pelosi sense that this kind of behavior can only wipe out whatever hopes Democrats have of a blue wave in November. President Trump understands this, too, which is why he kept up his own Twitter war against Waters Tuesday, calling her “the face of the Democrats.”

Unless Dems join in the criticism and Waters apologizes, they’ll prove him right.

Public vulgarities and crude threats by celebs are one thing; calls for harassment by elected officials are something quite different. At least some Dems realize that.