Rep. Maxine Waters declined to endorse age limits for elected officials during a Capitol Hill exchange Thursday, insisting voters — not arbitrary age thresholds — should decide who remains in office.
The 87-year-old California Democrat was approached by TMZ producer Jacob Wasserman following a Working Families press conference and asked whether younger Americans have a point when they argue some leaders are simply too old to remain in power
Waters made it clear that she does not believe that age alone should determine whether someone is fit for office.
“What do they do? What can you document? What can you give them credit for? What can you criticize them for? If you do what it takes to evaluate, then you can decide,” Waters said.
When Wasserman suggested voters should focus on what politicians actually accomplish rather than their age, Waters agreed.
“Performance and effectiveness,” she said.
The conversation then shifted toward President Donald Trump after Wasserman asked whether an 80-year-old commander in chief might be too old, referencing prior public concerns over former President Joe Biden’s age.
Waters declined to directly engage on Trump’s age and instead launched into criticism of the president’s leadership.
“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. He is absolutely committed to empowering himself,” she said.
Wasserman then returned directly to the age issue, asking whether there should be an age limit for the presidency.
Waters again rejected the premise.
“People should be evaluated and thought of in terms of what they do,” she said.
He pressed further, asking whether even a hypothetical 100-year-old “fighter” should still be allowed to serve in office.
“The people should evaluate who should be in office with their vote, and that’s it,” she said.
At 87 years old, Waters is among the oldest serving members of Congress and is facing a stiff primary challenger from a younger progressive candidate.
Waters has represented South L.A. in Congress for 35 years and is fighting for her political life ahead of her June Democratic primary.
Waters is facing off against 53-year-old Myla Rahman, a nonprofit executive who’s worked in politics.
“She’s a force… Since I was 6 years old, she’s been in office, but as I do my work in the community, walk through the districts, talk to people, people want new leadership,” Rahman said.
“The average age in the district is 36 years old. That’s a big difference… When you talk about relatability, when you talk about going to the store, the price of affordability – I’m a renter,” Rahman said.
“Being able to afford housing. Raising my children in the district and school there, talking to their friends. And elections are about the future. They’re not really about the past,” Rahman added.
Waters says her experience and the energy she brings to the job every day are why she’s running for re-election.
“The Democratic Party is working as it normally does,” Waters said. “They will choose their candidates based on the relationships that they have, the work that they have done, the interests that they have shown – not about age.”
Waters appeared at an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles in February, chanting “ICE out of L.A.” hours before the demonstration descended into violence and police made multiple arrests.
“What I see here at the detention center are people exercising their constitutional rights,” Waters said while standing in front of officers wearing riot gear, Fox News reported. “And, of course, they’re now trying to tear gas everybody. It’s in the air, but people are not moving.”
Later on Friday, Los Angeles police arrested multiple violent agitators after issuing dispersal orders as protests erupted near a federal detention center.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside City Hall Friday afternoon before many marched to the detention facility, where a group of agitators pushed a large construction dumpster and blocked the entrance to the building’s loading dock, according to police.
The LAPD shared video of the unrest on social media and said officers deployed pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
