Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters denies ever encouraging violence against Republicans despite once calling for supporters to 'absolutely harass' Trump admin officials
Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters has denied encouraging supporters to confront and harass members of the Trump administration.
Waters was asked whether she ever 'glorified or encouraged' violence against Republicans.
'As a matter of fact, if you look at the words that I used, the strongest thing I said was tell them they're not welcome,' Waters claimed during an interview Sunday on MSNBC.
'[I said] Talk to them. Tell them they're not welcome. I didn't say go and fight. I didn't say anybody was going to have any violence. And so they can't make that stick.'
California Rep. Maxine Waters is showing no remorse over her comments in 2018 where she encouraged Democrats to confront and harass Trump administration officials
It's not the first time Waters has come under fire. In 2018 she said she had 'no sympathy' for Trump administration officials who defended the then-president's 'zero-tolerance' immigration policy.
She urged her supporters to 'absolutely harass them' when appearing in public.
'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,' Waters said at the time.
'The people are going to turn on them, they're going to protest, they're going to absolutely harass them.'
Speaking on MSNBC on Sunday, she advised Republicans to distance themselves from the ex-president or face being 'owned by a dishonorable human being'
Waters comments at the time came after then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and former press secretary Sarah Sanders were confronted with their families in public over Trump's controversial family separation policy.
On Sunday's interview, Waters showed little contrition but advised Republicans to distance themselves from the ex-president or face being 'owned by a dishonorable human being'
'The Republicans should be afraid, not only about the destruction of our democracy but if they continue to support him and allowed 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,' she said.
'He's going to be in their primaries. They will be owned by this dishonorable human being.'
A pro-Trump mob enters the Capitol Building on January 6
Impeachment prosecutors plan to prove that Donald Trump incited the January 6 Capitol riots with a dramatic video juxtaposing chaotic scenes at the insurrection with his remarks
Water's comments may even be used during Trump's Senate impeachment trial this week.
The lead impeachment attorney Bruce Castor planning to use her words while he presents arguments defending the former president.
'I think you can count on that,' he told Fox News. 'If my eyes look a little red to the viewers, it's because I've been looking at a lot of video.'
Trump spoke to a mass of supporters to repeat his unfounded claims that the presidential election was fraudulently 'stolen' from him, telling the crowd that 'you have to show strength' and that 'if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore.'
Castor defended the remarks, saying, 'But here, when you have the president of the United States give a speech and says that you should peacefully make your thinking known to the people in Congress, he's all of a sudden a villain.'
The lead impeachment attorney Bruce Castor has said he is planning to use Waters' words while presenting arguments defending the former president
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