Watch Maxine Waters declare: 'I am a strong black woman' with a message for 'women everywhere'

On Tuesday morning, during Fox & Friends, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly reacted to a clip of Representative Maxine Waters—a black Democrat from California—speaking on the House floor. Instead of commenting on her powerful statement—about how criticizing the president is an act of patriotism—O’Reilly sniped, “I didn’t hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig.” Not just racist but sexist, too!

On Tuesday night, Maxine Waters appeared on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes to respond to being insulted and dismissed. Except she didn’t just have a response. She had a powerful message—and a mantra for all women.

Rep. Waters said:

I’m a strong black woman, and I cannot be intimidated.
I cannot be undermined.
I cannot be thought to be a friend of Bill O’Reilly—or anybody.

YES YES YES. WOMEN: TAPE TO YOUR MIRROR AS AN AFFIRMATION.

And there’s more:

And I’d like to say to women out there, everywhere: Don’t allow these right-wing talking heads, these dishonorable people, to intimidate you or scare you. Be you who are. Do what you do. And let us get on with discussing the real issues of this country.

Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes have no credibility. They have been sued by women. They have had to pay millions of dollars out in fines for harassment and other kinds of things. And so we know about that checkered past.

And we also know that when a woman stands up, and speaks truth to power, that there will be attempts to put her down. And so I’m not going to be put down. I’m not going to go anywhere. I’m going to stay on the issues.

Thank you. An elected official speaking truth is what America needs right now. (More on those lawsuits here and here.) A round of applause for Maxine Waters, please.

Oh, and in case you have, up until now, been blissfully unaware of how disgusting and inappropriate he can be, Media Matters put together a supercut of Bill O’Reilly’s most offensive statements:

Some lowlights:

Telling a professor of African American studies—who has a Ph.D.—that he “kinda” looks like a cocaine dealer.
Declaring “Asian people are not liberal by nature—they’re usually more industrious and hard-working.”
Saying, “A lot of people don’t know that you can’t say the term ‘Oriental’ anymore. It’s Asian. I’m trying to figure out why. It’s the Orient, where they originate…”