Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is one of the most controversial members of Congress, with a history of scandalous and bizarre statements and stories throughout her thirty years as a representative.
Below are ten lowlights in Waters’ political career:
1. Waters is reprimanded by a judge for inciting unrest during an ongoing criminal trial
Waters has recently been in the news for encouraging protesters in Minnesota to “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin is acquitted of murder charges for the death of George Floyd.
Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the trial, said on the day of counsel’s closing arguments that her remarks were “abhorrent” and “may result in the whole trial being overturned”:
I’m aware that Congresswoman Waters was talking specifically about this trial and about the unacceptability of anything less than a murder conviction, talked about being confrontational… 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. I think if they want to give their opinions, they should do so in a respectful, and in a manner that is respectful to the Constitution, to respect the co-equal branch of government. Their failure to do so, I think, is abhorrent.
In addition, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Breitbart News Monday he will formally move to censure Waters “over her call to violence in Minnesota,” Breitbart News’ Matt Boyle reported. If just a handful of Democrats cross the aisle and the censure resolution passes, she will be stripped of her duties as the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee.
2. Waters lives outside her congressional district
Republican Joe Collins campaigned against Waters during the 2020 cycle and highlighted that Waters does not even live in the district she represents.
“Do you know where I am right now? Maxine Waters’ six million-dollar mansion,” Collins says in an ad. “Do you know where I’m not right now? Maxine Waters’ district.”
“She has a very nice community, she has a really big house – and that’s just one of three or four house that she has,” he also told Fox News. “And meanwhile, she comes to the inner city and preaches the message of hatred, and a message of us vs. them.”
Waters’ home once was counted as part of her own district (CA-43), but it now lands in CA-37, represented by fellow Democrat Karen Bass.
3. Waters calls for public harassment of White House officials
In 2018, Waters suggested people should be harassing and protesting then-president Donald Trump’s Cabinet officials at stores, restaurants, and gas stations.
“I have no sympathy for these people that are in this administration who know it’s wrong for what they’re doing on so many fronts. They tend to not want to confront this president or even leave, but they know what they’re doing is wrong,” Waters said.
“I want to tell you, these members of his cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they won’t be able to go to a restaurant, they won’t be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store,” she continued.
“The people are going to turn on them. They’re going to protest. They’re going to absolutely harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president, ‘No, I can’t hang with you.’ This is wrong. This is unconscionable. We can’t keep doing this to children,” she concluded.
4. Waters claims God sent her to stop Donald Trump
Later that same year, Waters addressed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, claiming she was sent to Washington by God to obstruct Trump.
“You’ve gotta know that I’m here to do the work that I was sent to do, and as pastor said to me when I came in this morning, when God sends you to do something, you just do it!” she said.
“So I have a message: I’m going back to Washington tomorrow morning, I’m going to tell them pastor told me to come here and just do it!” she proclaimed.
“I’m not about to sit quietly and allow the President of the United States, or anybody else, to undo all that has been done to make this a great country,” she concluded.
5. Waters gets pranked by Russian trolls posing as Greta Thunberg
Waters presumably spoke with two Russians impersonating Greta Thunberg and her father after her staff believed they have connected with the Swedish climate change activist, Breitbart News’ Kristina Wong reported.
A woman who identifies herself as Congresswoman Waters tells “Greta”: “Of course, I know all about you. You have made quite a big, big, big thunder on this issue. I am really, really very proud of you and the work that you’re doing.”
The prank callers trick Waters into making a statement in defense of the environment of an imaginary island named “Chunga Changa.”
The call gets more farcical when “Greta” tells Waters that she met Trump at the United Nations, where he privately insulted her and confessed to threatening Ukraine’s president.
“He came over, he leaned towards me, and said softly, ‘Listen to me very carefully, little girl, you will never achieve your goals,’” “Greta” says.
“He said you will never achieve your goals? Oh my goodness!” Waters exclaims, stunned. “Greta” then says that she cried. “Oh my God did you cry?” Waters exclaims.
6. Waters compares Trump to “Kim Jong-Oom” and “Validimore Putin”
Waters spoke in San Diego in February 2018 and compared Trump to North Korea and Russia’s dictators, botching the heads of state’s names along the way.
7. Waters propagated “BlueAnon” conspiracy theories about Trump and Russia
In the clip immediately above, the congresswoman insinuated that Trump is “compromised” by Putin — a far-left conspiracy theory that has since been proven false. In January 2019, Waters speculated about a Trump-Russia scheme during the 2016 election, even admitting “I don’t have the proof” to substantiate any portion of the claims.
8. Waters says she has never seen police brutality against white Americans
During a new conference in 2002, Waters said of her social justice cause that there is a disparity between the policing of white and back people.
“I don’t see white police officers slamming the heads of little white boys into police cars,” Waters said.
“I haven’t seen them abusing white males. What I see is white police officers abusing black males, and young black males particularly. Yes, I believe it’s racially motivated,” she added.
9. Waters laments that her mother could not abort any of her 12 siblings
Waters, speaking of civil rights marches, alluded her mother could not have any of her children aborted. Waters is the fifth of 13 children.
“I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion,” she said.
10. Waters takes cheap shots at Melania Trump
Typically, a U.S. president’s family members are considered off-limits in political battles, but Waters did not let that stop her from making some low blows against First Lady Melania Trump, without any particular political angle. On one occasion in 2018, she made the non-sequitur remark: “[Trump] doesn’t even know how to spell his own wife’s name.” The year before, she wrote on social media: “Melania can’t trust Trump,” with no further context or explanation of what prompted the statement.
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