Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania took his fellow Democratic officials to task for not coming out forcefully against the riots happening in Los Angeles.
Beginning Friday, protesters and rioters flooded the streets in opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in the city, involving rounding up criminal illegal aliens.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump federalized units of the California National Guard and began deploying them Sunday into Los Angeles. On Monday, he also sent in U.S. Marines from the Twentynine Palms base, located near Palm Springs, east of LA.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by suing the Trump administration for the deployment of the military, calling it “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Past presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush, have federalized the National Guard to quell protests and enforce federal law. Eisenhower and Bush also sent in active-duty troops to augment the Guard’s presence.
Fetterman posted Monday on social media platform X, “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration — but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos.”
“My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,” he added.
I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that.
This is anarchy and true chaos.
My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/pPYbvP6xR0
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) June 10, 2025
The post had over 8 million views and over 245,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
Do you find Fetterman tolerable for a Democrat?
In addition to Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass has also come out forcefully against the deployment of troops in her city and wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions to end.
“This is intentional chaos,” the mayor said at a Monday news conference, according to Cal Matters. “There was no need to federalize troops. And so to have this here is really just a provocation and something that was not needed in our city.”
On Tuesday, Bass told reporters, “We need to stop the [ICE] raids.”
MAYOR KAREN BASS: “We need to stop the raids.”
“This was chaos that was started by Washington, D.C.” pic.twitter.com/OQS11FqZ5z
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 10, 2025
Fetterman’s fellow Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted Sunday on X, “Donald Trump’s deployment of the military in Los Angeles over the objection of California leaders is an abuse of power and a dangerous escalation.”
“It’s what you would see in authoritarian states and it must stop. Americans have the right to speak out and peacefully protest,” she said.
Donald Trump’s deployment of the military in Los Angeles over the objection of California leaders is an abuse of power and a dangerous escalation.
It’s what you would see in authoritarian states and it must stop.
Americans have the right to speak out and peacefully protest.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 8, 2025
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he had spoken with Newsom the previous day.
“I called him up to tell him, ‘You got to do a better job.’ He’s doing a bad job,” the president said. “If we didn’t send out the National Guard, and last night we gave them a little additional help … Los Angeles would be burning right now.”
.@POTUS on his last conversation with @GavinNewsom: “I called him up to tell him, ‘You got to do a better job.’ He’s doing a bad job… if we didn’t send out the National Guard… Los Angeles would be burning right now.” pic.twitter.com/XFXYkcwHIC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 10, 2025
Trump also noted that he had seen these kinds of riots during his first term in the summer of 2020, and a lesson he took from them was that Democratic governors are willing to let their cities burn.
In the case of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, he waited seven days and finally directed the Guard into Minneapolis.
“I’ve been here before and I went right by every rule,” says @POTUS on deploying the National Guard.
“I waited for governors to say, ‘Send in the National Guard’. They wouldn’t do it … I said to myself, ‘If that stuff happens again, we’ve got to make faster decisions.’” pic.twitter.com/bQAaIkbSCn
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 10, 2025
Trump recounted, “I said to myself, ‘If that stuff happens again, we’ve got to make faster decisions.’”
He added that radical left and Democratic governors simply do not want to call in the Guard.
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