In a press conference that can only be described as peak gaslighting, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took to the podium to scold the American public for daring to believe their own eyes when it comes to the anti-ICE riots that have rocked Los Angeles.
“There was no violence,” Waters declared without a hint of irony. “I was on the street. I know.”
That’s right — according to Waters, the fires, the assaults on ICE agents, the vandalized vehicles, the looted businesses, and the viral videos flooding social media all add up to nothing. Just peaceful protesting.
Related: Karen Bass Accidentally Exposed the Left's Riot Strategy
“Even those who were out of step with what we are advocating, peaceful protest, did not create any violence,” she insisted. “Nobody was shot, nobody was killed. Get it in your head.”
Let me see if I understand this correctly: Unless someone ends up in a morgue, apparently it doesn’t count as violence? You can burn cars, destroy property, assault police and federal officers, and even loot, and it’s not a riot? It’s not violence? I guess January 6 was a peaceful protest, too.
Waters wasn’t done, though: “Don’t think that somehow because they called out the National Guard, there was violence.” Yes, never mind the fact that the National Guard isn’t deployed for fun or optics. To Waters, it’s all just an overreaction to a few harmless demonstrations.
But here’s where her already absurd statement reached peak absurdity. Waters then took aim at the media and the public for relying on evidence, instead of her word.
“I went from downtown detention back out into the community, talking to people, what happened in Paramount, what happened in Compton, what happened in Inglewood. So, first of all, get it straight and don’t just rely on what you’re being told or the few incidents that you saw,” she said, because how dare you rely on firsthand videos showing mayhem and destruction across Los Angeles?
Rep. Maxine Waters (D): "No violence in LA. Don't believe what you saw." pic.twitter.com/7JPZXa0TUR
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 10, 2025
Apparently, a quick drive-through tour of the damage zone was enough for Waters to conclude that nothing happened — nothing worth condemning, anyway.
Spinning a narrative is one thing. But staring straight at video footage of a city in flames and insisting that it’s all just in your imagination? That’s an entirely different level of dishonesty. Then again, this is Maxine Waters, the same radical lawmaker who once urged her supporters to confront and harass Trump officials in public.
Now she’s taking it a step further, gaslighting the entire country in real time and pretending the chaos doesn’t exist while lecturing the rest of us for daring to believe our own eyes. This isn’t harmless political theater; it’s reckless and dangerous. Waters’ denial gives violent rioters exactly what they want: cover to keep wreaking havoc. And to the law-abiding Americans watching their communities crumble? The message is crystal clear — don’t believe the smoke, the broken glass, or the burning cars and destroyed businesses. Maxine says everything’s just fine.
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