Donald Trump just made a huge mistake with Maxine Waters
Donald Trump seemed to think he’d found the perfect enemy to take on. Congresswoman Maxine Waters a strong, outspoken, liberal black woman – everything that Trump’s base hates. So when she encouraged mainstream Americans to continue peacefully protesting Trump’s advisers in public places of business, he falsely accused her of having called for violence. Sure enough, Trump’s base decided that Waters was public enemy number one. But now it’s backfired.
Donald Trump’s goal was to not only fire up his own base, but also to convince Americans in the political middle that Maxine Waters – and thus the Democratic Party in general – were violent radicals. In fact Trump posted several tweets trying to tie his lies about Waters to the Democratic leadership. But as a result of Trump’s lies, his supporters ended up making death threats against Maxine Waters. The threats were credible enough that she’s had to begin canceling public appearances.
So now, for those non-political folks watching at home and trying to figure out which side to take, Maxine Waters is now seen as holding the high ground. When the (supposed) President of the United States begins viciously attacking a Congresswoman, and his supporters begin threatening the lives of that Congresswoman as a result, it’s fairly obvious why that’s a bad look. Trump’s base alone, which estimated at 15% to 20% of the country, isn’t large enough to save him. Half of his approval rating is thanks to people outside his base who are passively or tentatively supporting him. These are the kind of people who are likely to frown at Trump basically trying to get a Congresswoman killed, even if his craven base loves it.
Worse for Donald Trump, he has merely elevated the profile Maxine Waters, while failing to silence her. During today’s nationwide protests against Trump’s abusive treatment of immigrants, Waters spoke to a crowd and played up the fact that Trump’s supporters are threatening to kill her: “All I have to say is this, if you shoot me you better shoot straight, there’s nothing like a wounded animal.” Not only has Trump failed to turn mainstream Americans against Waters, he’s given her a bigger stage – and she’s more than willing to use it against him.
