Maxine Waters
Waters participated in an interview with MSNBC's Ali Velshi, who, surprisingly enough, confronted her on comments she made in 2018 about members of Trump's cabinet. In light of the fact that the team of lawyers defending former President Donald Trump during the impeachment trial planned to use footage of Waters and other members of Congress calling for violence, he questioned whether or not her remarks constituted incitement to violence.
Video footage shows the lawmaker saying: "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. You tell them that they're not welcome anymore anywhere! We've got to get the children connected to their parents. The children are suffering."
Velshi played the clip before asking Waters about her statements. He said: "I was able to play that clip that you were referring to from June 23rd, 2018, where you're asking people to confront Republicans at department stores, gas stations, and restaurants and tell them they're not welcome. That's the stuff that Donald Trump's attorneys say proves that you and others are doing the same thing Donald Trump was doing on January 6th and in the days before that. What's the difference?"
Waters responded by using the old "but Trump though" deflection technique. "Nothing any Democrat that I know of have ever said or acted in the way the president of the United States has acted. People must realize this president was out to destroy our democracy if he could not be president," she lied.
The lawmaker continued, "He sent those people, those domestic terrorists, to the Capitol to take over the Capitol. Even they are saying so. They're saying they were invited by the president. The president was rallying them right before they went. He told them to be tough. He told them to take back their government."
Waters didn't stop there. She then moved on to pretending that she made those comments because she wanted to protect the children in cages that she and her ilk have decided are no longer important.
"Yes, I defended those poor children in cages that the Trump administration has left there separated from their parents," she said. "There was a movement at the time where restaurants were denying members of his administration of his cabinet and saying you guys should speak up for the children. And so that does not in any way equal what this president has said and what he has done."
The representative added, "as a matter of fact, the Republicans should be afraid not only about the destruction of our democracy, but if they continue to support him and allow themselves to be guided by him, they're going to have to live with a president that dictates to them every vote they can take, every vote they cannot take, he's going to be in their primaries, they will be owned by this dishonorable human being."
Velshi replied, "So let me ask you because this is what they're going to say. Can you say that you have not glorified or encouraged violence against Republicans?"
"Absolutely, I can say it. As a matter of fact, if you look at the words that I used, the strongest thing was to tell them they're not welcome, talk to them, tell them they're not welcome," she bloviated. "I didn't say go and fight. I didn't say anybody was going to have any violence. So they can't make that statement."
Of course, what she and the rest of the Democrats ignore is the fact that former President Trump never actually said: "anybody was going to have any violence" either. Indeed, by their own definition of incitement, Waters, along with many others on the left, is guilty of the crime of which they are accusing Trump.
The Democrats and their close friends and allies in the activist media have established their own standard: If you use harsh rhetoric and people use it as an excuse to riot, it's you're fault. Unless you're one of them, of course. This is why they don't blame Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for the actions of one of his followers who attempted to assassinate GOP lawmakers in 2018.
Despite Waters' absurd claims, the effort to impeach Trump after he is already out of office is destined for failure. Last month, 45 senators voted to declare the entire process unconstitutional and the Democrats need 17 GOP lawmakers to vote in favor of conviction. But, this obviously is not going to stop them from trying, is it?
RC