LOS ANGELES-Don’t mess with auntie. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For her constituents in the 43rd District, which encompasses a large swath of South Los Angeles, Waters is the pitbull advocate they need to represent them in the House of Representatives. To her peers over on Capitol Hill, Waters mean something entirely different.
She is that no-nonsense hardliner that draws a line in the sand and dare you to cross it. Apparently, President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devn Nunes (R-CA) and others within the Republican Party have made the mistake of crossing ethics, and perhaps, treasonous lines in Waters’ eyes.
And she hasn’t been quiet about it. Waters have been front and center in criticizing the actions of Trump, dumping gasoline on the fire known as the Bill O’Reilly sexual harassment scandal and taking the hardball playbook in standing up for issues such as supporting the political football known as Planned Parenthood.
Waters has a reputation of pulling no punches. On April 13, in a forum held by the Los Angeles Press Club, Waters didn’t hold back in releasing her feelings about collusion allegations between White House staff members and associates and Russia, and the overall corruption atmosphere in Washington, D.C.
Dubbed A Conversation with Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the hour-long discussion, which was moderated by NBC’s Beverly White, Waters didn’t waste time before going into attack mode. Her first line of action was making a beeline in going after Trump.
“My constituents…people are outraged at the actions that are being taken by this president,” Waters said. “As a matter of fact, he turned a lot of them off during the campaign, as he did me.”
Waters said it was Trump’s actions during the 2016 presidential campaign trail that left her sour about him being a potentially respectable commander-in-chief.
“When I saw him mock a disabled journalist (Serge Kovaleski), and basically make fun of him, I was turned off,” said Waters. “When he talked about grabbing women by their private parts, I was turned off. And I was at a place in Missouri, where he literally stalked Hilary Clinton, got in her face, called her crooked. And when she was trying to make her presentation, he just surrounded her.”
It is no surprise that Waters see Trump as less than respectable.
“This is a dishonorable man,” Waters said. “This is a person who does not respect others. This is a person that does not deserve to be respected. And my constituents ….they want us to do something about him, and when I called for impeachment, even though some of my colleagues said, ‘Shh! Don’t say that. It’s too soon.’ My constituents said, ‘Go get him.’”
Trump wasn’t Waters’ only target. She saved a stingy rebuke for O’Reilly, the now ousted Fox News host accused by multiple women of sexual harassment. O’Reilly and Fox News recently shelled out $13 million to settle layers of sexual harassment claims (five at last count).
When White mentioned that O’Reilly had fled the backslash from his sexual harassment claims by going on vacation, Waters responded in only the way she can.
“I’m hoping it is a permanent vacation,” Waters said. “This man has gotten away with some of the most outrageous and ridiculous things that he says year in and year out. He doesn’t deserve to be on television. He doesn’t deserve to have a channel.”
Dennis is the editor and publisher of News4usonline. He covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, racial and social justice, civil rights, and HBCUs. Dennis earned a journalism degree from “The Mecca” aka Howard University. “I write on what I am passionate about.”