Rep. Maxine Waters defended older elected officials this week when asked whether Congress and the presidency should have age limits.
According to Mediaite, the 87-year-old California Democrat was approached Thursday outside the US Capitol by TMZ producer Jacob Wasserman, who questioned whether younger Americans are becoming frustrated with aging political leaders.
Wasserman began by asking Waters how she responds to Gen Z voters who believe some leaders have remained in office too long.
“What do you say to people in my generation who think, ‘Okay, some of these leaders are too old, and we need to do something about it?’” he asked.
Waters brushed aside the focus on age and instead argued that voters should judge politicians based on their record in office.
“I usually don’t do press conferences while I’m walking, but let me just say that the way people should think about elected officials is, ‘What do they do? What can you document? What can you give them credit for? What can you criticize them for?’” Waters replied.
“If you do what it takes to evaluate, then you can decide.”
Wasserman followed up by asking whether leadership should be judged “based on their age, but rather on what they do for the people.”
“Performance and effectiveness,” Waters answered.
The conversation then shifted to President Donald Trump, who is nearing 80 years old.
Wasserman asked Waters whether an 80-year-old president might be “a little too old,” referencing concerns that had previously surrounded former President Joe Biden’s age while in office.
Waters quickly pivoted from the age discussion into criticism of Trump himself.
“Don’t have to ask me about Trump,” she told the TMZ producer. “You know what I think about him.”
She then launched into a broader attack on the president.
“The President of the United States is destroying our democracy,” Waters said.
“He’s made unkept promises. He is enriching himself and his family with cryptocurrency.”
Waters also accused Trump of abusing executive power and misleading Americans.
“He has lied to us,” she said, before arguing that voters are beginning to regret supporting him.
“I think some people are having buyer’s remorse, and we see it in the polls,” Waters added.
“In the final analysis, it is the people who will finally determine that this president is dangerous and divisive.”
She concluded the remarks with a call for political opposition.
“We’ve got to fight, fight, fight!” Waters declared.
Wasserman later returned to his original question and directly asked whether there should be an age cap for presidents.
Once again, Waters rejected the idea.
“People should be evaluated and thought of in terms of what they do,” she said.
“If you have effective leaders, if you have fighters, if you have those who have demonstrated—if you have those who are documented, what they care about—that’s the only thing that matters.”
The TMZ producer then posed a hypothetical question about whether “a hundred-year-old fighter” should remain in office.
“The people should evaluate who should be in office with their vote, and that’s it,” Waters responded.
