Rep. Maxine Waters said Tuesday evening that she will not be “intimidated” or “undermined” by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly after he joked on the air about her hair, which he said looked like a “James Brown wig.”
Though O’Reilly apologized earlier in the day, he seemed to slam her again on his evening program when he said she doesn’t know what she’s talking about in her criticism of President Trump.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes asked if the California Democrat wanted to respond to him.
“No, I’m not responding to him,” Waters said, before before thanking Hillary Clinton “for standing up for all women, in particular for black women.” Clinton, at an event in California on Tuesday, condemned the “racist joke” O’Reilly made about Waters.
She went on to address O’Reilly despite claiming she would not.
“Let me say this, I’m a strong black woman and I cannot be intimidated. I cannot be undermined. I cannot be thought to be afraid of Bill O’Reilly or anybody,” Waters said. “And I’d like to say to women out there everywhere, don’t allow these right-wing talking heads, these dishonorable people to intimidate you or scare you.”
Speaking to women who are targeted by intimidation, Waters shared a message.
“Be who you are, do what you do, and let us get on with discussing the real issues of this country. Bill O’Reilly and [former Fox News chief] Roger Ailes have no credibility. They have been sued by women. They’ve had to pay millions out in fines for harassment and other kind of things.”
Moving on to “the issues,” Waters went on to condemn Trump, who she said doesn’t deserve to be president and “wrapped his arms around” Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.
