Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif, represents Los Angeles, a city often cited as the home of the nation’s largest homeless encampment.
On Friday, she attended a nonprofit’s event to assist the homeless in obtaining emergency shelter, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some attendees seemed to have heard an unsubstantiated rumor that Section 8 housing vouchers would be given out at the event, the LA Times reported.
Waters told the homeless they would get nothing… and told them to “go home.”
“I want everybody to go home,” the Democratic lawmaker told the homeless crowd. “Nothing more is going to happen today.”
One attendee responded, “We ain’t got no home. That’s why we’re here.”
The LA Times obtained a video of the jaw-dropping moment… complete with Waters’ fake smile. And we have it here.
After she told the homeless to “go home,” Waters tried to discourage the LA Times from reporting on the incident.
“You’ll hurt yourself and the community trying to put this together without background,” she said on the phone with reporter Connor Sheets. “I don’t want you to start trying to write it, you won’t understand it.”
Take a look —
LA , Maxine waters tells the homeless to go home , well they voted for her pic.twitter.com/whFs0FYdGG
— neil jettel (@NeilJettel2) March 31, 2022
California has been suffering from a housing shortage since about 1970, and it has seen homelessness increase dramatically since the 1980s. Economists blame the state’s longstanding anti-construction laws.
Some of the state’s top politicians have been in power since that period. Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein began her “public service” career in the 1960s. Waters herself arrived at the statehouse in 1976.
The housing crises appears to be worsening every year.
According to 2021 HUD reports, California has more than twice the national rate of homelessness, with L.A.’s Skid Row sometimes cited as the nation’s largest homeless encampment.
Section 8 of the 1937 Housing Act authorizes the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to distribute vouchers to low-income tenants looking to pay their private sector landlords.
However, in the 21st century, the voucher program has become mired in bureaucratic red tape, like decade-long waitlists because of housing shortages.
Sure enough, Waters is now facing residents’ frustration.
“You need to work with me,” one of them told Waters.
“I do, every day. The money that you got thus far came from me in Washington, D.C.,” Waters said. “Excuse me. There’s nobody in Washington who works for their people any f***ing harder than I do… I don’t want to hear it,
“What do you mean “every day”? I still live on the d*** streets,” one resident remarked.
“So what about all the names and the telephone numbers? This lady here is working so hard to try to help us,” one attendee asked.
“You need to know why they’re failing because [Waters’ district director] Blanca Jimenez denied repeated meeting requests with you concerning LAHSA [Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority] and housing requests for years,” another attendee said.”
“Go home,” Waters said on her way out. “There are no more vouchers today.”
“Thank you, Maxine,” one participant responded. “There are never any vouchers.”
2018 FLASHBACK: Video shows Maxine Waters making homeless give HER money
The Horn editorial team