'Purposefully obtuse': Politifact rides to Rep. Maxine Waters' rescue on 'not welcome anywhere' comment

Doug P. | 4:02 PM on February 08, 2021

By now you’re used to Politifact going above and beyond the call of duty in order to give Democrats the benefit of the doubt in their fact checks, and this one about comments from Rep. Maxine Waters is no different:

No, Rep. Maxine Waters didn’t say Trump supporters are "not welcome here" https://t.co/KaWVqnA8PH pic.twitter.com/HVQMb6deR1

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 8, 2021

Is that so?

We have eyes and ears. Waters is on VIDEO saying EXACTLY THAT https://t.co/ATzLeeUpEz

— Angus T. Kirk (@angusparvo) February 8, 2021

Waters recalling remarks in 2018: “I said, if you see them anywhere, if you see them in a restaurant, if you see them in a department store, even at a gasoline station, just tell them, you're not welcome here or anywhere.” https://t.co/wMA1mtIY66

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) February 8, 2021

Here’s what Politifact did: They found a Facebook post that claimed Waters said “Trump supporters” should be made to feel unwelcome anywhere they go (restaurant, dept. store, gas station) and then disproved the entire thing as “mostly false” by ruling that Waters only directed that at Trump’s cabinet.

Literally at 5:20 in the video you link to in your article Waters says, "If you see anybody from that cabinet … you create a crowd, and you push back on them, you tell them that they're not welcome anymore, anywhere"https://t.co/KnApDpIry1

Liars https://t.co/kUsjU1lXu0

— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) February 8, 2021