It wasn’t meant to be a standout moment, but Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) drew attention online—not for what she said, but how she said it.
During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, the 86-year-old congresswoman struggled through a prepared statement, mispronouncing words and referring to the Wall Street Journal as the “Hall Street Journal.”
“In the first quarter since Trump took office, the United States economy shrank… our gross des—domestic project—product—decreasing by 0.3 percent,” she read.
The clip quickly went viral, fueling bipartisan concerns about cognitive fitness in Congress. Waters, now in her 18th term, holds sway over economic policy.
With public trust in lawmakers at historic lows, the moment renewed calls for leadership change and age or mental acuity standards. Waters opposes Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
REACTIONS:
