Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) unloaded on the GOP's claim — as led by Donald Trump — that anti-Brett Kavanaugh protesters were violent and "mob-like."
"This country was built on peaceful protest," Waters told MSNBC's Chris Hayes Tuesday night. "And those of us who were part of the civil rights movement, who understood the power of protest taught by Dr. Martin LutherKingg and others know that we cannot allow Donald Trump and anybody else to take protests away from us and to deem it to be violent and to try and make us look like a mob."
The congresswoman pointed out that when the president and Fox News pundits accuse Democrats of "normalizing violence" and promoting "mob rule," they're trying to change the definition of constitutionally-protected rights to assembly — an ironic reframing given the way Trump riles up his base.
"This president is the poster boy for what a mob protester looks like," Waters said. "He's the one who has been violent in his speech. He's the one in his rallies have said things like this, 'I'd like to punch him in the face.'"
At another rally, the California Democrat noted, the president said he'd like to knock the "crap" and the "hell" out of a protester and then promised to "pay the legal fees."
"That's violent talk," Waters said. "With don't have that kind of talk that has come from the women who are protesting. As a matter of fact, this country is past due for the kind of protests that we have seen women do in the last few days."
Watch below, via MSNBC:
