During her appearance on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” Waters laid out her own version of what happened behind closed doors at the US-Russia summit in Helsinki, claiming that Trump was Putin’s “apprentice.”
“In fact, for months I’ve been trying to tell the American public that this president is dangerous [and] that he’s in bed with Putin. […] This president, I believe, has promised him [Putin] that, once he was elected, he would get those sanctions lifted. I think he is Putin’s apprentice. He’s been under his tutelage for a long time now,” the democratic representative alleged.
Social media burst with reactions as many supported her, saying that she was a “strong woman who knows the truth” and kept tweeting cheerful gifs and pics:
I know it, I just watched her and goddam I love that woman!! @RepMaxineWaters She is a true patriot and a strong woman who knows the truth and always speaks it to the American people, thank you so much🇺🇸
— ♠️⚜️Miss Führerious⚜️💔 (@MissFuhrerious) 22 июля 2018 г.
She is a strait shooter! pic.twitter.com/NFPljtmSje
— J (@jane_the_teach) 22 июля 2018 г.
Maxine Waters is a true soldier of democracy. She laid out what Trump & Putin talked about in secret: Trump has promised to lift the sanctions in exchange for the help Putin gave him in winning the election. Trump will keep trying to soften up America to throw out the sanctions
— janelynne (@janelynne) 22 июля 2018 г.
— Patricia Jackson (@Patrici17272864) 23 июля 2018 г.
Maxine is my Hero @RepMaxineWaters @JoyAnnReid Donald Trump’s a Zero! pic.twitter.com/3Dw2CduX6z
— Mikey (@hisey_mike) 22 июля 2018 г.
Yes LORD!!!!! #AuntieMaxine pic.twitter.com/vHPUScy7Te
— wallacetroyhim I'm a Taurus ♉💯 (@wallacetroyhim) 22 июля 2018 г.
Others, however, dismissed her public statements, highlighting her constant “disrespect” of President Trump, with some even suggesting that she was “the devil’s apprentice”:
And I think @MaxineWaters is the devil's apprentice
— roy clevenger (@roy18977) 23 июля 2018 г.
Maxine Waters is a disgraceful representative that has no right to be representing our government! She consistently lies & continually is disrespectful to the President of the United States 🇺🇸! #WalkAway #WalkAwayNow
— 🌼SomethingsGotToGive (@bibeydoll11) 23 июля 2018 г.
I think you're the devils apprentice. Would you rather us go to war with Russia, or try to get along with them you mental midget? See folks, it's people like mad max here that give credence to the hashtag #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder #VoteRed #MAGA
— Davaughn Wistrom (@Butch452) 23 июля 2018 г.
I think #MadMax is trying to outdo Stuttering Nancy Pelosi.
— 🤖FrankCastle~WarJournal (@PunisherBot) 23 июля 2018 г.
Dumb and Dumber#WalkAway #MAGA #WWG1WGA #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder pic.twitter.com/NA7CyppEjc
Nearly a month ago, Waters, who has on multiple occasions called for Trump’s impeachment, stepped up her anti-Trump rhetoric by encouraging her supporters to take action and confront members of the current administration. Her remarks were perceived by some as a call to violence, which prompted POTUS to take shots at her on Twitter, while dismissing her as a “low-IQ individual.”
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 25 июня 2018 г.
President Trump has received an avalanche of criticism over his first full-fledged meeting with Putin last week, which they both declared successful during a joint press conference. The two touched upon Russia’s alleged meddling in the US presidential election in 2016, with President Trump saying that he didn’t “see any reason why it would be [Russia].”
“He [Putin] just said it’s not Russia. […] I don’t see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server. […] I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” he said.
But just a day after the one-on-one summit, Trump was reportedly forced to backtrack on his support of Putin’s denial of meddling, claiming he had misspoken during the presser.
“The sentence should have been: I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t – or why it wouldn’t be Russia,” Trump stated.
On the next day, CBS News aired interview with POTUS, in which he claimed that he held Putin personally responsible for election interference.
WATCH: President Trump tells @jeffglor he would hold Russian President Vladimir Putin "responsible" for election meddling https://t.co/qVLUBKNW8j pic.twitter.com/eXXVDZDecB
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) 18 июля 2018 г.