Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) on Tuesday praised Democrats for being "very responsible" in waiting for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into President Donald Trump to be over before calling for his impeachment, despite calling for his impeachment at the end of her response
MSNBC host Ari Melber said there are critics of Democrats, including herself, who worry calling for Trump's impeachment before the end of the investigation into whether Trump's campaign was colluding with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign could bias the high legal standing for impeachment process.
Melber went on to play a video from 1998 of Waters castigating Republicans for the way they were trying to impeach former President Bill Clinton, one of only two presidents to be impeached in American history.
"I am greatly disappointed in the raw, unmasked, unbridled hatred and meanness that drives this impeachment coup d'etat, the unapologetic disregard for the voice of the people," Waters said at the time. "My Republican friends, what you do here today will long be remembered and recorded in history as one of the most despicable actions ever taken by the Congress of the United States of America."
Melber said Waters' argument about the impeachment process being "despicable" was because it was partisan and wasn't a proper exercise of the Constitution's impeachment power.
"What do you say to people who argue that the Democrats in the House may go down that road depending on what happens in November because of a distaste for Donald Trump?" Melber asked.
Waters praised Democrats for being "very responsible" in not racing to call for Trump's impeachment and even praised them for calling her out and telling her not to keep calling for Trump's impeachment.
"They have said to me, that let's just talk about our issues, let's not talk about him ... This just emboldens the Republicans who say that the only reason that you would want impeachment is because you don't like him and that you lost the election," Waters said.
"Democrats have been terribly responsible," added Waters, before attacking Trump and saying he should be impeached.
Waters has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics and has called for his impeachment dozens of times, including a eulogy at a funeral of a civil rights activist last September.