Rep. Maxine Waters avoided directly answering whether 100 years old is too old to serve in Congress during a hallway interview outside the U.S. Capitol this week, instead arguing lawmakers should be judged by their performance rather than their age, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

The exchange happened on Thursday when TMZ producer Jacob Wasserman stopped Waters as she walked through the Capitol following a Working Families press conference.

Wasserman opened the interview by raising concerns often expressed by younger voters regarding the age of elected officials in Washington.

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“Congresswoman, Jacob with TMZ. How are you?” Wasserman asked.

“I’m fine,” Waters replied.

Wasserman then referenced the ongoing debate surrounding aging politicians and whether Congress should consider age limits for lawmakers.

“Good to see you. I have a question. I want to ask you something as a whiny Gen Z-er myself,” Wasserman said.

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“Some people in my generation look at our leaders and think, ‘You know what? Some of these people are too old.’ But as a spry 87-year-old, I just saw you talk at the Working Families press conference. What do you say to people in my generation who think, ‘Okay, some of these leaders are too old, and we need to do something about it?’”

Waters, who is currently 87 years old and has served in Congress since 1991, declined to endorse age limits and instead focused on evaluating lawmakers based on their effectiveness.

“I usually don’t do press conferences while I’m walking, but let me just say that the way people should think about elected officials is, ‘What do they do? What can you document? What can you give them credit for? What can you criticize them for?’” Waters said.

“If you do what it takes to evaluate, then you can decide.”

Wasserman followed up by asking whether voters should judge politicians based on performance rather than age.

“Understood, so we shouldn’t judge people based on their age, but rather on what they do for the people,” Wasserman said.

Rep. Maxine Waters tells @jacob_wass no one is too old to serve if they're good! pic.twitter.com/491eiNbWLw

— TMZ (@TMZ) May 14, 2026

Waters did not directly respond to the hypothetical question of whether someone 100 years old should continue serving in Congress.

The interview quickly spread across social media on Thursday as debates continue over aging lawmakers in Washington and whether term limits or age restrictions should be considered for members of Congress.

Questions surrounding the age of federal officials have become increasingly common in recent election cycles as both Republicans and Democrats field older candidates and longtime incumbents.

During the interview, Waters also shifted attention toward President Donald Trump when asked broader political questions, criticizing the president and repeating several familiar Democratic talking points about his administration.

The TMZ clip gained traction online as users debated whether Congress should implement age limits for elected officials or continue allowing voters to decide through elections.

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