Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions during an interview released Tuesday as dangerous, racist, and holding antiquated beliefs.
The comments came after Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart asked Waters on his podcast "Cape Up" how she believed Sessions would have handled the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
"I think that Jeff Sessions is very dangerous. I think he's a racist, and I think that he absolutely believes that it's his job to keep minorities in their place," the California Democrat said before discussing problems with the Justice Department's handling of police shootings.
"I've got to bring you back to something you just said because it might be a little jarring to folks to hear you say, 'I think Jeff Sessions is a racist,'" Capehart said.
"Yes!" Waters responded. Capehart again asked her to explain her belief.
After pointing to past comments Sessions made about the Ku Klux Klan, ACLU, and NAACP, Waters said she has seen a picture of Sessions surrounded by people dressed in "Antebellum clothes" at an airport during the campaign season.
"I'm thinking to myself, he really likes this and this is not just, you know, a campaign activity for fun. He really is saying, 'I like the look, I like the feel, and so I'm very comfortable in, you know, bringing the picture of the Antebellum South to greet me at the airport,'" she said. "I think he is a racist. I think he is a throwback. And I don't mind saying it any day of the week."