Congressmember Maxine Waters encouraged a crowd of 500 at the California African American Museum to show up, have your own rally, out-tweet Trump as she led the crowd in her ever-growing popular “Impeach 45” chant.
“Are we going to sit and wait for the next presidential election? I don’t think so”, she told the crowd. “He deserves to be impeached.”
Waters gave the crowd some insight on things to pay attention to as she stated, “it’s about these sanctions to drill oil,” she said.
According to the Congressmember, Exxon Mobile is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company. Secretary of Secretary Rex W. Tillerson who was Exxon Mobil’s chief executive before his nomination by President Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
She also spoke about Trump’s administration team as she stated, “the presidency is not supposed to be about how much money you can make,” she said.
Trump’s cabinet has been called the richest administration in modern American history, worth more than $12 million.
Trump granted more lobbyist waivers in his first 4 months than Obama did in 8 years.
From Jared Kushner’s sister getting caught on tape pan handling EB-5 visas for Kushner company interest, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price trading on insider pharmaceutical information, Wilbur Ross’s stake in a Chinese shipping firm or the decision to have Wall Street lawyers run the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trump has taken self-interest and government to unprecedented levels.
Trump was also quoted in the Whitehouse Roosevelt room as saying, “In those particular positions, I just don’t want a poor person does that make sense?” Speaking of his top economic adviser and former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn and billionaire Treasury secretary, Wilbur Ross.
Waters took a couple of questions from the crowd and spoke about threats she had been receiving with the response “If you shoot me you better shoot straight cause there’s nothing worse than a wounded enemy,” she said.
As the crowd left we caught up with a few attendees to hear their thoughts.
Ameekia Williams who lives in the valley waited three hours to hear Waters speak.
“What’s going on right now affects my household in more ways than one. With the choice for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, my husband works for Pierce College and his program, his project, and his entire salary is based on the funds of the grants, considering she’s cutting so many of the grants and funding for education that affects my household. I’m also a cancer survivor, so his job being in jeopardy because of that, threatens my care. I feel an impact in more ways than one,” said Williams.
Kaaren Drake said, “I watch Waters all the time, I follow her on Twitter and so I wanted to see her speak. She’s so powerful. What’s interesting is I follow her so closely politically that almost everything she said I already knew about.
“Leaving here today makes me want actively continue to do what I’ve been doing. I’m good with signing petitions, giving a couple dollars here and there to the ACLU. I know they got our backs.”
When asked what makes her most concerned about the Trump administration she stated, “the deregulations which will affect the Black community and minority communities that people aren’t aware of that he’s already signed off on, that’s what’s scary.”
Water’s closed with town hall with “as the millennials taught me, ‘Stay Woke,’”.
(PHOTO BY VALERIE GOODLOE)
(PHOTO BY VALERIE GOODLOE)
