While speaking to her supporters at a recent event, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters encouraged them to physically confront and harass Trump Administration members.
Rep. Waters made the comments on Saturday at a protest rally in Los Angeles, then repeated them in an MSNBC television interview, CNN reported.
Waters, a staunch critic of President Trump, called on her supporters to act in response to the “zero tolerance” immigration policy that is reportedly behind family separations at the border.
“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere. We’ve got to get the children connected to their parents,” Waters told the crowd.
“We don’t know what damage has been done to these children. All that we know is they’re in cages. They’re in prisons. They’re in jails. I don’t care what they call it, that’s where they are and Mr. President, we will see you every day, every hour of the day, everywhere that we are to let you know you cannot get away with this,” she added.
Waters later appeared on MSNBC where she repeated her remarks, adding that she has “no sympathy” for Trump Administration members.
“For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store, 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, and we can’t keep doing this to children,'” she said, according to The Hill.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is encouraging people to confront and harass members of President Trump’s cabinet. pic.twitter.com/SexWNasIsT
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) June 25, 2018
Waters’ comments were criticized by both Democratic and Republican colleagues.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke out against Waters on Monday for her comments, according to CNN.
“I strongly disagree with those who advocate harassing folks if they don’t agree with you,” he remarked on the Senate floor. “If you disagree with a politician, organize your fellow citizens to action and vote them out of office. But no one should call for the harassment of political opponents. That’s not right. That’s not American.”
Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain and whose father-in-law Douglas Domenech is serving as Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas, expressed concerns over safety in light of Waters’ remarks.
“This is absolutely insane – and extremely dangerous,” she said. “My father-in-law works in the administration, does this mean when we go out to dinner we should be ambushed?!? Don’t ever again give me any of the ‘when they go low, we go high’ lip service.”
This is absolutely insane – and extremely dangerous. My father in law works in the administration, does this mean when we go out to dinner we should be ambushed?!? Don’t ever again give me any of the “when they go low, we go high” lip service. https://t.co/UF1feYT0Pm
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 24, 2018
House Minority Leader Nanci Pelosi blamed President Trump’s “lack of civility” for evoking “unacceptable” responses such as those made by Waters.
