Maxine Waters knew it would come to this. Since 1990, she has represented California in the United States House of Representatives. In that time, she has seen President Bill Clinton weather impeachment, President George Bush drag us into endless war, and President Barack Obama survive the scandal of his tan suit. In other words, she can distinguish between real and partisan horror. And she has sounded the alarm on this president for months.
In September 2017, at comedian Dick Gregory’s funeral, Waters said, “when I get through with Donald Trump, he’s going to wish he had been impeached.” In May 2017, she asked, “Why would we let…Trump, a con man, come in here and turn it all upside down with his lies and his disrespect?” She would keep at it, she promised, “until he’s impeached.” In November 2017, she led thousands of people in an “Impeach 45!” chant at Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards. It took some time, but the House of Representatives has now heeded her call.
But as much as Waters is vindicated, she is also under fire. The representative is a frequent target for such right-wing conservatives as Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, and the hordes of internet trolls who follow them. In October 2018, Waters was one of over a dozen Trump critics who was sent a bomb—in fact she received two—in the mail. She tells Glamour she still gets death threats. But Waters is as resolute as ever: Now is no time to back down. Here, she talks impeachment, Republicans, and what’s next for America.
Glamour: From the beginning, you have been a voice in the wilderness, warning America about this president.
Rep. Maxine Waters I watched this president all during the primaries and the way that he treated his peers. I watched him talk about grabbing women by their private parts. I’ve watched him name-call—he name-called me. I watched him promote violence at his rallies. I watched him embrace [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and refuse to denounce him even after our intelligence committee basically confirmed that the Russians had hacked into our election system.
And now I’m watching him, with this telephone call that really has gotten a lot more people into understanding and believing how dangerous he is, how corrupt he is. A tough call where he tried to talk the Ukrainian president into getting involved in some kind of phony investigation so that he could get dirt on [former Vice President Joe] Biden.
