Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is under fire for a recent viral video which shows her making threats against President Donald Trump, and one of her political opponents is calling for her arrest over the statements.
In a speech Waters gave at an Oct. 13 event in New York City, she states, “With this kind of inspiration, I will go and take Trump out tonight.”
The video of her speech was initially pulled offline by YouTube, but has since been reposted numerous times and has recently gone viral. On Oct. 22, it garnered the attention of Omar Navarro, a candidate for the congressional seat held by Waters.
“I’m calling for the arrest of Maxine Waters. Let’s get ready for it. #VoteNavarro2018,” he stated on Twitter, adding “Secret Service should call for Maxine Waters immediate resignation after these comments. We don’t need lip service.”
I’m calling for the arrest of Maxine Waters. Let’s get ready for it. #VoteNavarro2018??
— Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) October 23, 2017
Secret Service should call for Maxine Waters immediate resignation after these comments. We don’t need lip service. https://t.co/D80jhU2rg1
— Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) October 22, 2017
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, also stated on Twitter, “Unacceptable. Democrat leadership should denounce ANY suggested violence against the President.”
Unacceptable. Democrat leadership should denounce ANY suggested violence against the President. https://t.co/K4DZXXgafu
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) October 22, 2017
Waters is no stranger to controversy. She was named four times by liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2011 as “one of the most corrupt members of Congress.”
An eight-page CREW report lists her numerous cases of misconduct, and the investigations into her actions. Among the cases, she allegedly “used her position as a senior member of Congress and member of the House Financial Services Committee to prevail upon Treasury officials to meet with OneUnited Bank,” says CREW.
Judicial Watch, a conservative non-partisan watchdog group, referred to Waters in Dec. 10, 2012, as “A famously corrupt—and seemingly untouchable—congresswoman renowned for abusing her power to enrich family members,” and criticized her rise to become a ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
It notes that Waters “helped family members make more than $1 million through business ventures with companies and causes that she has helped,” and was also “investigated by the House Ethics Committee for steering $12 million in federal bailout funds to a failing Massachusetts bank” that she and her husband—a board member—held shares in.
It adds that Waters has also come under fire for “skirting federal elections rules with a shady fundraising gimmick that allows her to receive unlimited amounts of donations from certain contributors,” and for making “hundreds of thousands of dollars in short periods of time by selling her endorsement to other politicians and political causes.”
In a July segment, Tucker Carlson of Fox News noted that Maxine Waters lives in a 6,000 square-foot, $4.3 million mansion in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. He questions, “how did she afford a place like that, after having spent the last 40 years working in government? We’d hate to speculate.”
Carlson also questioned, “How does she keep getting re-elected, despite not living in her own congressional district? No clue there either.”
Despite her track record, Waters achieved relative fame among Democrats in the 2016 presidential elections, due to her frequent calls to impeach Trump, and for continually pushing the still-unproven Trump-Russia narrative.
The New York Times noted her unexpected rise to fame on the left in a July 7 article, stating “Through all the tumult, Ms. Waters, once deemed ‘one of the most corrupt members of Congress’ by a liberal watchdog group, has remade herself from Los Angeles ward politician to a darling of the left.”
