Dozens of black women leaders and allies have admonished the Senate and House minority leaders for their "recent failure to protect" Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., "from unwarranted attacks" by President Donald Trump, his administration, and other Republicans.
Waters said last month, opponents of Trump should confront members of his administration whenever they meet them and "tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere," according to The Daily Beast, a comment House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., both declined to agree with. Schumer described her approach in a floor speech as "not American,” according to CNN.
"We write to share our profound indignation and deep disappointment over your recent failure to protect Congresswoman Waters from unwarranted attacks from the Trump administration and others in the GOP," the women wrote to Schumer and Pelosi in a letter Tuesday, according to Politico. "That failure was further compounded by your decision to unfairly deride her as being 'uncivil' and 'un-American.'"
They add "in doing so, we believe this mischaracterizes her call to action for peaceful democratic assembly and the exercise of her constitutional rights to free speech in support of defenseless immigrant children and their families."
The group concludes, "as women whose ancestors have lived through the incivility of slavery, segregation, and all other forms of discrimination, racism, and sexism, as people who have historically been told to 'wait for justice, for freedom, for our turn,' we consider it an insult to characterize Ms. Waters' call for the exercise of our constitutional rights as uncivil and un-American. We call on leaders of all persuasion to practice the art of civil discourse. We believe you can make this right. We expect, and she deserves, your support."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.