Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a statement Thursday that she has seen an increase in the number of threats made against her ever since she encouraged people to openly confront members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet in public spaces. As a result, she has had to cancel some public appearances.
CNN reports that the congresswoman canceled two upcoming events in Texas and Alabama this weekend after receiving threatening messages and “hostile mail” at her office—including “one very serious threat” on Monday from an individual in Texas.
Waters said in a statement:
As the president has continued to lie and falsely claim that I encouraged people to assault his supporters, while also offering a veiled threat that I should “be careful,” even more individuals are leaving [threatening] messages and sending hostile mail to my office.
There was one very serious death threat made against me on Monday from an individual in Texas which is why my planned speaking engagements in Texas and Alabama were canceled this weekend.
This is just one in several very serious threats the United States Capitol Police are investigating in which individuals threatened to shoot, lynch, or cause me serious bodily harm.
Waters was at a rally in Los Angeles last Saturday when she said people should continue to confront members of Trump’s Cabinet when they see them in public. Her remarks were in response to the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that had children being forcefully separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, and came on the heels of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen being heckled by activists at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia.
“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 said.
At no time did Waters call for violence against or harm to come to anyone, but of course, your liar of a president got on Twitter and said that she did.
Trump wrote Monday: “Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!”
What he said can definitely be construed as a veiled threat against Waters. It is also a very loud dog whistle to his base, and intentionally so. Don’t be fooled; he may look like an idiot with a bad wig, but Trump is very cunning when it comes to these things. He knows what he is doing.
And let’s not forget that Sean Hannity blamed Waters for the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper only moments after he heard about it.
And now she is receiving increased death threats.
This is exactly what they wanted.