Troubled Waters: California Rep. Eggs on Rioters

April 19, 2021

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) doesn't represent the people of Minneapolis. In fact, when she stands in front of a crowd and spews dangerous rhetoric, she doesn't even represent Los Angeles County. When she travels to Minnesota to tell the mob to "stay in the streets" and "get more confrontational," she only represents one thing: the fringe Left.

Apparently, today's liberals don't just start riots in their own cities -- they'll travel halfway across the country to start one in yours. Of course, the woman they call "Kerosene Waters" has been starting fires for years, but in Minneapolis, the situation is different. The entire city is hanging on by a thread. Thanks to the perfect storm of the Derek Chauvin trial and the shooting of Daunte Wright, a community that's been on edge for days is one court verdict away from a full-scale firestorm. The last thing anyone there needs is an excuse to turn the city into another pile of smoldering ash. And yet, this congresswoman certainly seemed determined to give them one.

"We've got to stay on the street, and we've got to get more active," Waters told the protestors Saturday night. "We've got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business." If Chauvin isn't convicted of George Floyd's death, she warned, "We cannot go away... We've got to demand justice. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business." If that means Minneapolis burns to the ground, well, it's not her district. If violence breaks out on the streets, it won't be her constituents that could lose businesses, property, their sense of safety, and sleep. As for the Left's double standard on violence, Waters is the current standard-bearer.

After all, this is the same woman that thought Donald Trump should be impeached for "inciting violence" on January 6. "We're not going to support these kind of dangerous protestors," she insisted. Three months later, she's not just supporting dangerous protestors -- she's leading the charge! Outraged Republicans like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) couldn't believe his ears. "Maxine Waters is inciting violence in Minneapolis -- just as she has incited it in the past. If Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi doesn't act... I will bring action this week," he warned.

As the video of her comments started to spread, the condemnation got even louder. "Why is Maxine Waters traveling to a different state trying to incite a riot? What good can come from this?" Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) demanded to know. Obviously, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said, "The radical Left don't care if your towns are burning, if there's violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities. As long as the Left appeases their anti-America base, their job is done." Democrats are "actively encouraging riots and violence," Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) warned. "They want to tear us apart."

By Sunday night, #ImpeachMaxineWaters started trending on social media -- forcing the congresswoman onto MSNBC to try to clean up the mess. I was only there, she argued, as "kind of an Auntie Maxine" to lend support. "We have to give support to our young people," she argued. "...Minneapolis is a great example of what is wrong with the criminal justice system, what's wrong with policing. And so those of us who hold significant positions must stand up. We must support them, we must speak out, we must call for justice."

But confrontation isn't justice. And while the freedom of speech gives Maxine Waters -- and every American -- the right to say irresponsible and stupid things, the hypocrisy here is astounding. By her own standards, the New York Post editors write, "Maxine Waters should be impeached and removed." And yet her own party -- the one who tried to remove President Trump for lesser crimes -- is silent. So are the woke CEOs who cut ties with Republicans after January 6. Where are the heads of Apple, Disney, Walmart, and Amazon who were supposedly so committed to "the principles of democracy" and a "peaceful transfer of power" that they stopped contributions to senators who condemned the Capitol siege? M.I.A.

And when it comes to incivility, this is hardly Waters's first offense. Back in 2018, she urged Democrats to flat-out harass Trump officials. "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." This weekend's comments were just as volatile. And yet, she still has a Twitter account, a Facebook profile, and her committee assignments. If anyone's waiting for justice, it's conservatives.