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Twitter Is Very Concerned Trump's Tweet To Maxine Waters Sounded Like A Threat

by Celia Darrough
Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images

There's no love lost between President Trump and Rep. Maxine Waters. Most recently, the California Democrat told her supporters to "push back" on Cabinet members and "tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." Many were infuriated, but people on Twitter thought things might have gone a step too far when Trump tweeted Maxine Waters and warned her to be careful what she wishes for.

"If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere," Waters said, drawing criticism from mainly Republicans, but across the aisle as well. In response, Trump tweeted:

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!

The whole thing started after a few days of Trump administration officials being heckled. Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen faced protesters shouting "shame" at a Mexican restaurant for her role in the family separation policy. A restaurant owner asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave due to her role in the "inhumane and unethical" administration. And Waters clearly thinks it should continue.

But when Trump responded, saying that Waters had called for "harm to supporters" and warning her to "be careful," some people on Twitter took that as a direct threat.

One of the reasons people were concerned is because Trump's past statements have led his supporters to action. In 2016, three protesters were at a Trump rally in Kentucky when Trump said "Get 'em out of here." Trump supporters did exactly that, with video showing two men (one wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat) shoving a black woman out of the crowd.

The protesters have sued the Trump supporters, CNN reported, alleging assault and battery. The two Trump supporters have admitted to pushing her out, with one saying he "pushed a young woman down the aisle toward the exit." The other, who also admitted helping "drive out one of the women," called the charges against him "a political prosecution."

In an interview on Fox & Friends in 2015, Trump also talked about a Black Lives Matter protester who had been kicked out of a rally in Alabama, and video seems to show the protester being hit and kicked by Trump supporters. Trump said at the time:

The man that was — I don’t know, you say “roughed up” — he was so obnoxious and so loud, he was screaming — I had 10,000 people in the room yesterday, 10,000 people, and this guy started screaming by himself. And I don’t know, “rough up” — he should have been, maybe he should have been roughed up. Because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.

Trump had reportedly said at the rally, "Get him the hell out of here, will you please?" The protesters sued the Trump campaign for $1 million.

Many people mentioned these incidents (and others) in their response to Trump's tweet about Waters.

While Waters hasn't yet responded to Trump's tweet, she's proven over time that she's not one to hold back when it comes to criticizing Trump and his administration — apparently whether online or in public.