‘That’s going to be their platform: open borders, which equals crime…’

Maxine Waters (screen shot: cavalierseul/Youtube)

(John T. Bennett, CQ-Roll Call) President Donald Trump provided some fireworks Tuesday morning even before Independence Day celebrations light up skies across America, calling Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters “crazy” and accusing her of corruption.

He also warned of an “infestation” of MS-13 gang members from points south of the United States, contending again that Democrats “do not appreciate” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that some of them want to abolish or significantly overhaul amid the migrant family separation crisis.

The president used a morning tweet to say “Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party.”

Trump has sought to tie all Democratic incumbents and candidates to Waters ahead of November’s congressional elections after she told supporters to harass White House and administration officials they encounter in public. That came after Trump’s top spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and her family were asked to leave a Northern Virginia restaurant because she works for the often-bombastic Trump.

A Waters spokeswoman had not responded for a reaction to Trump’s tweet.

But the president did not stop there, also tweeting a contention that Waters’ “ranting and raving, even referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the Democrats!”

In another tweet he wrote about the American people, that they “want and demand Safety and Security, while the Democrats are more interested in ripping apart and demeaning (and not properly funding) our great Law Enforcement!”

On Sunday, with the House and Senate up for grabs in November’s midterm elections, he again signaled he views immigration — as well as the GOP tax law he signed in December — as a winning issue for Republicans and a weak spot for Democrats.

“Between Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi and getting rid of ICE and having open borders … all it’s going to do is lead to massive, massive crime,” he said of the two California Democrats. “That’s going to be their platform: open borders, which equals crime. I don’t think they’ll win another election. I’m actually quite happy about it.”

He also tweeted: “When we have an “infestation” of MS-13 GANGS in certain parts of our country, who do we send to get them out? ICE!”

Trump also sought to boost the morale of ICE agents, writing, “They are tougher and smarter than these rough criminal elements that bad immigration laws allow into our country. Dems do not appreciate the great job they do!”

House and Senate Democratic leaders condemned Waters’ call for people to harass Trump White House and administration officials.

She responded Sunday by saying she was surprised by her leaders’ calls for restraint, but also sent a message to Trump.

“I was blessed with courage. And I was blessed with the kind of strength that does not allow me to be intimidated by the likes of Donald Trump,” Waters told MSNBC. “Let him call me whatever he wants to call me. Let him say whatever he wants to say. He will not stop me.”