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U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, said President Donald Trump “is trying to create a civil war” and has to be stopped “dead in his tracks” during a January 8 appearance on SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show.
Waters’ comments came two days after the Capitol Hill security breach and riot.
Here’s what you need to know:
Waters Says She Expressed Security Concerns Before the January 6 Invasion of the Capitol
Yes! We must investigate the security breach at the Capitol today. I warned our Caucus and had an hour long conversation with the Chief of Police 4days ago. He assured me the terrorists would not be allowed on the plaza & Capitol secured. What the hell?
During her interview on Madison’s show, Waters explained that she spoke with the leader of the United States Capitol Police about safety and security concerns before the Capitol insurrection.
“[Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund] was telling us that he had it all under control,” Waters told Madison. “It turned out he had nothing under control. Nothing under control. And we were overrun. The Capitol of the United States of America, one of the most supposedly secure buildings in the country, was breached, and with them climbing the wall it looked like a third world country overtake of the government.”
In the aftermath of the attack, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Sund’s resignation, which he tendered within hours, NPR reported.
Sund has defended his actions and his agency’s role in the January 6 event. He told NPR he had “all hands on deck” and had requested aid from the National Guard, but his request was denied. Still, Sund said the realities of the siege were beyond what he had foreseen.
“We expected some additional violence maybe between some of the counterprotesters — that’s one of the reasons we went to the all hands on deck, but nothing like what we saw,” Sund told NPR. “I’ve been in law enforcement 30 years. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”
Waters Places Blame on Trump for ‘Playing Footsie’ With ‘Terrorist Groups’
Rep. Maxine Waters: ‘[Trump] is capable of starting a civil war. He must be impeached. He must be stopped now’
In her interview with Madison, Waters did not mince words when discussing Trump’s role in the Capitol siege.
“We know that the president of the United States invited all of them. That includes the Proud Boys, that includes the Oath Keepers, that includes the KKK and QAnon,” she said. “All of these terrorist groups that the president has been playing footsie with was invited to come. And now the president is pretending like he disagrees with what they’ve done and wants to be peaceful. Well, we’ve seen him tell these lies before.”
Waters told Madison that Trump wants to create a civil war, and she echoed those same sentiments on the House floor on January 13, when lawmakers voted to impeach the president a second time.
Waters expressed concern, though, that a second impeachment and the end of Trump’s term as president would not necessarily relieve the country of his “poison” and “corruption.”
“Since his first day in office, this president has spent four years abusing his power,” Waters said. “This is a Trump power grab that will not stop. It will not stop with attacking the Capitol and our state legislatures. This president intends to exercise power long after he is out of office.”
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