President Trump and Rep. Maxine Waters again show they do not care much for each other

President Trump and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) engaged in a sharp war of words through the weekend, with Trump calling Waters a “very low-IQ individual” and Waters firing back by calling Trump “con man Don.”

Trump started the exchange at a raucous Pennsylvania rally Saturday night for Republican House candidate Rick Saccone,

Trump derided Waters, who has called for his impeachment, apparently imitating her as supposedly declaring, “’We will impeach him. We will impeach the president. But he hasn’t done anything wrong. It doesn’t matter; we will impeach him.’”

“She’s a low-IQ individual — you can’t help it, she really is,” Trump said.

Waters responded Sunday on MSNBC, saying that “this is what this con man does. He diverts attention from himself by attacking others.”

“He can keep calling names,” Waters said. “I’ve got plenty for him.… Everyone knows he’s a con man. He’s been a con man all his life.”

Waters appeared undaunted by the president’s latest swipe at her, telling MSNBC’s Joy Reid that she plans to continue calling for his impeachment.

“I believe he should be impeached,” Waters said. “I think we’re on the road to it. I think it is possible and I’m going to keep going after him also.”

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin on Sunday defended Trump’s spree of name-calling, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the verbal assaults were intended to be humorous.

“The president likes making funny names,” Mnuchin told interviewer Chuck Todd, who himself was slammed by Trump in the Pennsylvania speech as a “son of a bitch.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), also appearing on NBC, urged fellow Republicans not to “normalize” the president’s behavior. Flake, who is not seeking reelection, said Trump’s continual name-calling and continuing attacks on the news media are a threat to democratic norms.

“It’s our responsibility at some point when he goes so far to stand up and say, ‘This is not normal,’” said Flake, who has also been subjected to repeated Trump insults.

laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLAT